058 


A: 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  LABOR 

JAMES  J.  DAVIS.  Secretary 

CHILDREN'S  BUREAU 


GRACE  ABBOTT.  Chief 


COUNTY  ORGANIZATION 

FOR 

CHILD  CARE  and  PROTECTION 


Bureau  Publication  No.  107 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 

1922 


490(54 


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for  printing,  it  is  not  possible  to  distribute 

this  bulletin  in  large  quantities. 


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OF  THIS  PUBLICATION  MAT  BE  PROCURED  FROM 

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AT 

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7  4-  | 

UStc 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Letter  of   transmittal yil 

Unifying  County  Work  for  Child  Care  and  Pbotection. 

The  development  of  county   social  work 1 

Types  of   county   organization 4 

County  organization  with  a  broad  program,  in  direct  cooperation  with 

a   State  board .5 

County  organization  for  the  care  of  dependent  children 12 

County  child-welfare  work  developed  by  private  agencies 12 

Raising  the  standards  of  county  work 13 

The  types  of  county  organization  represented  in  this  publication 16 

Organization  and  Development  of  County  Chixd-Welfabe  Boards   in 

Minnesota. 

State  and  local  administration  in  child-welfare  work 19 

Tlie  sphere  of  the  public  and  of  the  private  agency 20 

Duties  of  the  Minnesota  State  Board  of  Control 21-25 

Licensing    of    maternity    hospitals    and    organizations    caring    for 

children 22 

Supervision  of  placed-out  children 22 

Investigation    of    adoptions 23 

The  problem  of  the  unmarried  mother  and  her  child _. 23 

County   allowances   for   mothers 24 

The  care  of  the  feeble-minded 25 

Some  objections  to  a  centralized  State  plan 25 

The  county  child-welfare  boards 27  31 

Personnel _  27 

Organization 29 

Financing 30 

The  need  for  trained  service 31 

Duties  of  local  boards  in  relation  to  State  departments _  34  39 

Adoption    proceedings 35 

Placed-out    children 36 

The  child  born  out  of  wedlock 37 

The    feeble-minded ?>9 

Other  activities  of  county   boards 40-11 

Local  administration  of  county  allowances „ 40 

Probation  and  school-attendance  work 40 

County    health    nursing 40 

Law    enforcement 40 

State  conferences  of  child-welfare  boards 41 

Education   and   prevention 41 

in 


IV  CONTENTS. 

The  North  Carolina  System  of  County  Public-Welfare  Work. 

Page. 

A  county  systei lapted  to  rural  populations 43 

The  state-wide  program 44 

Organization  of  county  work 45 

State-wide  system   of  juvenile  courts 47 

Enforcement  of  the  school  attendance  and  child  labor  laws 49 

Adaptability  of  the  county  plan 50 

The  work  of  two  counties 51 

A  Study  of  the  County  Welfare  Departments  of  California,   with 
Special  Reference  to  the  Provision  for  Needy  Childf.kn. 

Origin  and  legal  basis  of  county  welfare  departments 55 

Preparatory  work  and  method  of  organization 56-65 

Survey  of  the  social  work  of  the  counties 56 

Education  and  propaganda 38 

Method  of  organization  of  welfare  departments GO 

Provision  for  needy  children  under  the  county  welfare  department 66 

Success  of  the  county  welfare  department  plan 70 

County  Organization  for  Child  Welfare  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey. 

Characteristics  of  the  State 73-75 

General  character  of  the  counties 73 

Civic  organization 74 

State  and  local  provision  for  child  welfare 75 

Special  achievements  in  certain  counties 78 

The  work  in  Monmouth  County 79-88 

Characteristics  of  the  county 79 

The  Monmouth  County  Organization  for  Social  Service 81 

History 81 

Original  constitution S2 

Policies  _.» 84 

Some  of  the  activities  of  the  organization 85 

The  relation  of  the  State  department  of  institutions   and   agencies  to 

county  welfare  organizations 88 

County  Organization  for  Child-Welfare  Work  in  New  York  State  by 
the  New  York  State  Charities  Aid  Association. 

The  early  program  for  child  care  and  protection 93 

The  Newburgh  experiment l 94 

The  plan  of  county  cooperation 96 

The  need  for  unifying  county  child-welfare  work 99 

Dutchess  County  child-welfare  work 102 

Centi'alized  juvenile-court  work  in  Chautauqua  County 106 

The  Development  of  the   Department  of  Child  Welfare  of  West- 
chester County,  New  York. 

The  department's  field  of  work 109 

Conditions  before  the  experiment  began 110-122 

Child  care  in  1914 110 

Machinery  for  handling  the  problem 111 

County  superintendent  of  the  poor 113 


CONTENTS.  V 

Conditions  before  the  experiment  began — Continued.  Page. 

First  steps  toward  improvement 113 

Indications  of  need  for  preventive  work 116 

Separation  of  child-earing  work  from  work  for  adults 116 

New  developments  in  work  for  children 117 

Boarding-home  and  mothers'  allowance  work  begun 119 

Increase  in  work  made  possible  by  additional  staff 120 

The  creation  of  the  department  of  child  welfare 122-128 

The  passage  of  the  "  commissionership  act  " 122 

Sections  relating  to  children 123 

Powers,  duties,  and  methods  of  work  of  county  department  of  child 

welfare 125 

Administrative  policies 127 

The  work  of  the  department  to-day 128-143 

Mothers'  allowances 128 

The  child  under  care  away  from  his  mother 131 

Reinvestigation  of  children's  cases 132 

Boarding  children  in  private  families 133 

The  clinic . 135 

Miscellaneous  tasks  undertaken  by  the  department 141 

Distinctive  features  and  future  needs 142 

Appendixes. 

Appendix  A. — Laws  and  bills  relating  to  county  boards  of  child  welfare 

or  public  welfare 147-167 

Arizona 147 

Arkansas „ 148 

Minnesota 148 

Missouri 149 

North  Carolina 151 

Ohio 154 

Virginia 154 

Bill  recommended  by  the  Kansas  Children's  Code  Commission,  1921 157 

Bill  recommended  by  the  Nebraska  Children's  Code  Commission,  1921-  158 
Bill  suggested  by  a  group  representing  the  New  York  State  Charities 

Aid  Association,  1922 160 

Appendix  B. — List  of  references  on  county  organizations  for  child  welfare 

or  public  welfare 169 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL. 


U.  S.  Department  of  Labor, 

Children's  Bureau, 
Washington,  May  9,  1922. 
Sir  :  There  is  transmitted  herewith  a  report  on  County  Organiza- 
tion for  Child  Care  and  Protection  in  which  are  described  what  are 
among  the  most  important  recent  administrative  advances  in  the 
local  care  of  dependent,  defective,  and  delinquent  children.  Those 
who  have  been  in  large  measure  responsible  for  this  development  in 
Minnesota,  North  Carolina,  California,  New  Jersey,  and  New  York 
have  cooperated  in  the  writing  of  the  report,  and  it  contains  not 
only  their  evaluation  of  what  has  been  accomplished  but  plans  for 
future  development. 

Emma  O.  Lundberg,  director  of  the  social  service  division  of  the 
Children's  Bureau,  planned  and  edited  the  publication  and  contrib- 
uted the  introduction  on  the  development  of  county  social  work. 

The  bureau  desires  to  express  its  appreciation  of  the  generous  co- 
operation of  officials  outside  the  bureau  who  have  made  this  report 
possible. 

Respectfully  submitted. 

Grace  Abbott,  Chief. 
Hon.  James  J.  Davis, 

Secretary  of  Labor. 

vn 


COUNTY  ORGANIZATION  FOR  CHILD  CARE  AND  PROTECTION. 


UNIFYING  COUNTY  WORK  FOR  CHILD  CARE  AND 
PROTECTION. 

Emma  O.  Lundberg. 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  COUNTY  SOCIAL  WORK. 

The  recent  rapid  development  of  organized  social  work  in  counties 
as  a  public  function  is  chiefly  the  result  of  the  emphasis  that  has  been 
given  during  the  past  few  years  to  the  problems  of  rural  and  small- 
town communities.  While  the  large  cities  were  busy  developing  their 
machinery  for  dealing  with  individuals  in  need  of  special  types  of 
care,  the  social  problems  of  the  smaller  cities,  towns,  and  rural  dis- 
tricts were  very  generally  neglected.  But  here  and  there  experiments 
in  rural  social  work  were  undertaken  and  various  forms  of  construc- 
tive community  activities  were  growing  up  in  smaller  cities.  These 
were  promoted  usually  by  some  individual  or  group  sufficiently  in- 
terested to  assume  considerable  financial  obligation  in  meeting  the 
social  needs  of  the  community.  It  was  not  until  the  unifying  and 
developing  of  public-welfare  activities  were  undertaken  as  part  of  a 
state-wide  plan  that  scattered  rural  populations  were  reached  by 
comprehensive  social-welfare  programs. 

County  organization,  however,  does  not  deal  entirely,  or  even 
mainly,  with  rural  conditions.  The  principles  of  coordination  of 
effort,  socialization  of  the  work  of  public  agencies,  and  cooperation 
with  a  central  State  body  are  applicable  to  counties  containing  largely 
urban  populations,  as  well  as  to  those  that  are  sparsely  settled.  But 
in  the  larger  cities,  and  in  counties  containing  such  cities  as  centers, 
the  establishment  of  "boards  of  public  welfare"  has  pertained 
mainly  to  the  reorganization  and  development  of  work  already  being 
done  in  some  manner.  Among  the  more  scattered  populations,  on 
the  other  hand,  county  organization  must  originate  work  of  care  and 
protection.  It  implies  uncovering  neglected  social  needs  and  build- 
ing up  means  of  dealing  with  them  constructively.  In  most  counties 
there  has  existed  some  form  of  "  poor  relief,"  either  care  in  alms- 
houses or  county  homes,  or  scanty  doles  to  families;  but  child-welfare 
activities  in  behalf  of  the  49  per  cent  of  the  children  of  this  country 
who  are  living  in  rural  communities  have  been  largely  neglected.  It 
is,  therefore,  on  child  welfare  and  on  reconstructive  work  with  fami- 

1 


2  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

lies  that  the  emphasis  has  been  placed  in  the  movement  for  organi- 
zation of  county  activities. 

The  impetus  to  the  movement  for  unifying  and  socializing  local 
activities  which  has  come  from  the  development  of  State  supervisory 
and  administrative  work  in  the  care  and  protection  of  handicapped 
children  and  adults,  has  been  due  to  increasing  recognition  of  the 
needs  and  rights  of  the  individuals  concerned.  This  individualizing 
of  "charities  and  corrections"  has  led  rapidly  to  search  for  causes 
and  preventive  measures.  Prevention  and  reconstruction  call  for 
local  action.  The  county  and  community  must  function  here;  the 
State  can  go  no  further  than  to  point  out  the  obvious  results  of 
neglected  social  problems. 

The  methods  of  social  case  work  are  being  applied  by  public  as 
well  as  by  private  agencies,  and  are  mainly  responsible  for  the 
changing  emphasis.  Home  care  for  dependent  children  has  become 
a  recognized  principle,  with  the  emphasis  on  the  prevention  of  child 
dependency  through  constructive  aid  in  preserving  the  child's  own 
home  whenever  possible.  In  the  care  and  training  of  deaf  and  of 
crippled  children  progress  has  been  in  the  direction  of  supplying 
corrective  treatment  through  clinics  and  the  necessary  equipment  for 
training  in  local  public  schools,  so  that  the  handicapped  child,  while 
remaining  a  member  of  his  own  group,  may  be  helped  to  gain  a  nor- 
mal relation  to  the  community.  Likewise  for  children  who  have 
committed  offenses  against  the  law,  supervision  has  largely  taken  the 
place  of  commitment  to  institutions,  and  such  children  are  more  and 
more  coming  to  be  considered  as  in  need  of  special  care  and  guidance, 
while  custodial  care  is  used  only  as  a  final  resort. 

This  ideal  of  prevention  and  reconstruction  is  an  outstanding  fea- 
ture of  the  plans  of  work  of  the  county  organizations  usually  given 
such  titles  as  "  county  board  of  child  welfare,"  or  "  county  board  of 
public  welfare."  The  law  directing  the  establishment  of  county 
boards  of  public  welfare  in  North  Carolina,1  for  example,  include 
among  the  duties  and  powers,  of  the  county  superintendents  of  public 
welfare  the  promotion  of  wholesome  recreation,  study  of  the  causes 
of  distress  and  "other  investigations  in  the  interest  of  social  wel- 
fare." The  law  passed  in  Missouri  in  1921 2  states  that  the  county 
superintendent  of  public  welfare  "  shall  seek  to  discover  any  cases 
of  neglected,  dependent,  defective,  or  delinquent  children  in  the 
county,"  and  secure  for  them  the  full  benefit  of  the  laws  enacted  in 
their  behalf.  A  far  cry  from  the  old-time  conception  of  poor-relief  ! 
The  Missouri  official  is  further  directed  to  "investigate  the  condi- 
tions of  living  among  the  poor,  sick,  and  delinquent  in  the  county  and 
to  examine  thoroughly  into  causes  of  crime  and   poverty  in  the 

1  See  text  of  law,  pp.  151-153. 

2  See  text  of  law,  pp.  149-151. 


UNIFYING   COUNTY   WORK.  3 

county  and  to  make  recommendations  from  time  to  time  to  the  State 
board  of  charities  and  corrections,  and  to  the  proper  local  authori- 
ties, as  to  any  change  in  conditions  or  in  legislation  necessary  to 
prevent  or  reduce  poverty,  crime,  or  distress  in  the  State." 

It  is  significant  of  the  importance  of  the  county  organization 
movement,  that  so  many  of  the  State  commissions  appointed  to  study 
child- welfare  needs  and  recommend  revision  of  existing  laws  have 
emphasized  the  desirability  of  some  form  of  county  board  that  would 
tie  up  the  local  work  with  the  activities  of  the  State  board  charged 
with  the  care  and  protection  of  children.  The  Minnesota  Child- 
Welfare  Commission  was  responsible  for  the  act  providing  for 
county  child- welfare  boards  in  that  State  in  1917.3  The  bills  pro- 
posed by  the  third  Missouri  Children's  Code  Commission  to  the 
legislature  of  1921 4  resulted  in  the  passage  of  the  law  providing  for 
the  appointment  of  county  superintendents  of  public  welfare. 

Two  State  commissions  reporting  to  their  respective  legislatures 
in  1921  included  the  creation  of  county  boards  among  their  recom- 
mendations. The  Nebraska  Children's  Code  Commission5  recom- 
mended an  act 6  "  to  consolidate  the  child  welfare  work  in  each 
county  of  the  State;  to  establish  county  boards  of  child  welfare;  to 
provide  for  county  superintendents  of  child  welfare."  The  Kansas 
Children's  Code  Commission  in  the  same  year  included  in  its  recom- 
mendations 7  a  plan,  which  also  failed  to  become  law,8  for  county  de- 
partments of  public  welfare,  to  prevent  duplication  of  welfare  ad- 
ministration in  county  and  city  governments,  and  to  centralize  the 
work  under  a  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare. 

One  of  the  measures  sponsored  by  the  New  York  State  Commis- 
sion to  Examine  Laws  Relating  to  Child  Welfare  was  the  bill  passed 
by  the  legislature  in  March,  1922,  permitting  the  extension  of  the 
powers  of  the  county  boards  of  child  welfare  heretofore  limited  to 
the  administration  of  mothers'  allowances.9  In  the  same  month  the 
Virginia  Legislature  of  1922  enacted  a  law  recommended  by  the 
State  children's  code  commission,  providing  for  the  establishment  of 
county  or  city  boards  of  public  welfare  to  work  in  cooperation  with 
the  State  department  of  public  welfare.10 

'Report  of  the  Minnesota  Child- Welfare  Commission,  1917,  p.  23,  St.  Taul,  Minn. 

4  See  Monthly  Bulletin  of  the  Stale  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  vol.  22,  no.  2 
(December,  1920).     Jefferson  City,  Mo. 

8  Report  of  the  Nebraska  Children's  Code  Commission,  1920,  p.  231-2.U.  Department 
of  Public  Welfare,  Lincoln,  Nebr. 

8  See  text  of  proposed  bill,  pp.  158-160. 

7  Report  of  the  Kansas  Children's  Code  Commission,  January,  1921.  Proposed  child- 
welfare  legislation,  p.  10. 

*  See  text  of  proposed  bill,   pp.   157-158. 

9  An  act  to  amend  the  general  municipal  law,  in  relation  to  the  establishment,  powers, 
and  duties  of  certain  boards  of  child  welfare.  Senate  Bill,  1922,  adding  Art.  7-B  to 
ch.  24  of  Consol.  Laws  of  N.  Y.  Does  not  apply  to  New  York  City  and  Dutchess  and 
Suffolk  Counties. 

10  Senate   Bill,    1922,    No.   SO,   sec.    12-15.     See  text  of   law,    pp.    154-156. 


4  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

The  purpose  of  county  organization  is  well  stated  in  a  recommen- 
dation made  by  the  Illinois  Children's  Committee.  This  committee, 
appointed  in  l!>k20  by  the  director  of  the  State  department  of  public 
welfare,  was  assigned  the  duty  of  "setting  forth  a  program  of  ade- 
quate child  care,  of  correlating  efforts  of  existing  boards  and  de- 
partments in  the  interest  of  children,  of  codifying  the  laws  relating 
to  children,  and  establishing  throughout  the  State  minimum  stand- 
ards of  child  welfare."11  On  the  subject  of  county  boards  the  com- 
mittee reported  as  follows : 

The  principle  should  be  accepted  that  the  State  departments  are  primarily 
concerned  with  the  carrying  out  of  the  State  laws.  In  order,  however,  to  pre- 
vent the  State  from  becoming  paternalistic,  and  the  State  departments  from 
becoming  overloaded  with  duties  and  details,  the  departments  must  work  largely 
through  the  existing  agencies  in  the  local  communities.  Since  the  county  is  the 
unit  of  local  government  in  this  State,  the  working  out  of  State  programs  may 
best  be  accomplished  through  this  unit.  At  the  present  time,  however,  the 
methods  adopted  by  the  102  counties  in  the  State  for  the  execution  of  their 
responsibilities  differ  very  widely,  and  there  are  also  many  gaps  unfilled  in 
their  service  for  human  welfare. 

In  order  to  crystallize  the  potentialities  of  the  counties  and  local  communities, 
both  urban  and  rural,  it  is  recommended  that  the  department  of  public  welfare 
promote  the  formation,  by  the  officials  and  citizens,  of  local  committees  which 
might  be  known  as  county  welfare  boards.  Experience  in  other  States  has 
shown  that  such  boards  do  much  to  prevent  duplication  of  effort  and  to  arouse 
interest,  and  lead  to  a  common  understanding  of  community  resources  and 
responsibilities  and  a  fine  spirit  of  cooperation  in  service  for  the  common  good. 

TYPES  OF  COUNTY  ORGANIZATION. 

It  is  difficult  to  define  categorically  the  types  of  county  organiza- 
tion that  have  developed  so  rapidly  within  recent  years.  Many  of 
them,  as  pointed  out  above,  have  resulted  directly  from  the  efforts  of 
State  boards  to  secure  local  attention  to  the  causes  and  the  treatment 
of  dependency  and  delinquency.  Frequently  the  change  has  come 
about  through  local  effort  to  combine  modern  principles  of  social 
work  with  business  methods.  The  State's  function  has  been  educa- 
tional and  has  been  directed  toward  bringing  into  cooperation  the 
various  county  agencies  in  the  interest  of  better  standards  of  work. 

The  fundamental  differences  in  the  several  States  and  their  various 
needs — inherent  either  in  basic  conditions  or  in  local  preferences 
for  certain  methods  of  handling  situations — are  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  in  no  two  States  are  the  plans  of  county  organization  ex- 
actly similar,  even  though  they  may  follow  the  same  general  trend. 
It  is,  indeed,  doubtful  if  the  methods  of  work  undertaken  in  any  two 
counties  of  the  same  State  are  identical.  Probably  no  State  will 
find  it  practicable  to  follow  in  detail  the  plans  adopted  by  any  other 


11  Report  of  the  Department  of  Public  Welfare,  Children's  Committee,  pp.  1,  7,  Spring- 
field, 111.,  1921. 


UNIFYING   COUNTY   WORK.  5 

State,  however  successful  they  may  have  proved.  The  material 
presented  in  this  publication  in  regard  to  the  methods  of  organiza- 
tion and  the  work  undertaken  by  county  units  in  various  States  in- 
dicates certain  fundamental  principles  as  a  guide  for  the  develop- 
ment of  similar  activities.  In  their  application  they  must  t>e  made 
to  fit  local  conditions  and  requirements. 

In  general,  the  forms  of  county  organization  as  they  exist  to-day  in 
different  parts  of  the  country  may  be  divided  into  three  groups: 
First,  those  represented  in  this  publication  by  Minnesota,12  North 
Carolina,13  and  California,14  the  county  organizations  provided  for 
by  the  Arkansas15  and  Virginia  laws16  and  the  duties  designated  for 
county  superintendents  of  public  welfare  in  Missouri.17  In  these 
|  States  the  county  work  is  public,  is  in  direct  cooperation  with  the 
State  board  of  charities  or  a  similar  department,  and  includes  varied 
programs  of  child  care  and  protection,  relief  of  dependent  families, 
probation  and  parole,  enforcement  of  social  legislation,  and  other 
forms  of  assistance  and  of  reconstructive  and  preventive  effort.  The 
work  in  Alabama,  Pennsylvania,  and  South  Carolina  also  belongs  in 
this  class  of  organization. 

The  second  type  of  public  county  organization  is  concerned  mainly 
with  the  care  of  dependent  children.  It  is  found  in  Indiana18  and 
Arizona,19  in  the  permissive  law  passed  in  Ohio20  in  1921,  in  the  two 
New  York  counties  of  Dutchess  and  Suffolk,21  and  in  the  provisions 
of  the  general  law  passed  in  New  York  State  in  1922. 22 

The  third  type  of  county  organization  is  that  under  private 
auspices,  and  directed  to  the  development  of  either  a  broad  program 
or  work  with  a  specific  group.  The  county  activities  undertaken  in 
the  States  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Florida  are  examples  of 
this  type. 

COUNTY  ORGANIZATION  WITH  A  BROAD  PROGRAM,  IN  DIRECT 
COOPERATION  WITH  A  STATE  BOARD. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  future  development  of  constructive 
county-wide  work,  the  most  significant  form  of  county  organization 
is  that  represented  by  Minnesota23  and  North  Carolina.24  and  pre- 

12  See  pp.  19-42. 
"See  pp.  43-53. 

14  See  pp.  55-71. 

15  See  text  of  law,  p.  148. 

16  See  text  of  law,  pp.  154-156. 
"See  pp.  149-151. 

"Burns'  Annotated  Statutes,  1914,  sees.  3657-36C0,  36C2-3G64  ;  Supplement  of  1921, 
sec.  3661. 

19  See  text  of  law,  pp.  147-148. 

20  See  text  of  law,  p.  154. 

21  See  pp.  101-106. 

22  Senate  Bill,  1922,  adding  Art.  7-B  to  ch.  24  of  Consol.  Laws  of  X.  Y. 

23  See  section  on  Minnesota,  pp.  19-42. 

24  See  section  on  North  Carolina,  pp.  43-53. 


6  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR    CHILD    CARE. 

sumably  to  be  developed  in  Arkansas26  and  Virginia20 — a  state- 
wide plan  for  county  boards  undertaking  broad  programs  of  ehild 
welfare  or  public  welfare,  and  acting  to  some  extent  as  local  rep- 
resentatives of  the  State  board.  In  California  27  this  system  is  be- 
ing worked  out  along  somewhat  similar  lines  through  an  educa- 
tional campaign  by  the  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections, 
which  delegates  to  these  county  departments  certain  powers  and 
duties.  In  Missouri,  the  law  enacted  in  1921 28  provides  for  county 
superintendents  of  public  welfare  with  duties  very  similar  to  those 
of  the  North  Carolina  officials,  and  acting  as  agents  of  the  State 
boards.  The  Missouri  arrangement  lacks  the  very  important  fea- 
ture of  a  board  representing  the  varied  interests  of  the  county,  and 
giving  assistance  and  backing  to  the  executive  officer.  This  omis- 
sion may  be  partly  compensated  for  through  cooperation  by  the 
existing  county  boards  of  visitors  or  other  voluntary  groups,  act- 
ing in  an  advisory  capacity  with  the  county  superintendents  of 
public  welfare.  The  Alabama  State  Child-Welfare  Department, 
the  Pennsylvania  Commonwealth  Committee  representing  several 
departments,  and  the  South  Carolina  State  Board  of  Public  Welfare 
are  each  undertaking  the  work  of  county  organization. 

The  Minnesota  and  Arkansas  laws  relative  to  the  appointment  of 
county  boards  by  the  State  board  do  not  specify  in  detail  the  work 
of  these  local  boards,  but  merely  designate  that  they  shall  perform 
such  duties  as  may  be  required  of  them  by  the  State  board.  In 
Minnesota,  the  law  states  that  the  executive  agents  and  assistants 
appointed  by  the  county  child-welfare  boards  "  may  also,  when  so 
directed  by  the  county  board,  perform  the  duties  of  probation  and 
school  attendance  officers,  and  may  aid  in  the  investigation  and 
supervision  of  county  allowances  to  mothers."  The  duties  delegated 
to  the  county  boards  by  the  State  board  of  control,  as  pointed  out 
in  a  discussion  of  the  Minnesota  plan  later  in  this  publication, 
relate  mainly  to  investigation  of  proposed  adoptions,  supervision 
of  placed-out  children,  protection  of  the  interests  of  children  born 
out  of  wedlock,  and  supervision  of  feeble-minded  children.  The 
Arkansas  law  providing  for  the  appointment  of  county  boards  of 
public  welfare  by  the  State  commission  of  charities  and  corrections, 
states  that  each  county  board  shall  organize  according  to  the  in- 
structions of  the  State  board,  and  that  they  shall  work  under  the 
direction  of  the  commission,  and  shall  have  "  similar  powers  and 
duties  of  inspection  regarding  institutions  and  agencies  within 
their  respective  counties  to  those  of  the  commission."  The  county 
work  in  Arkansas  is  still  to  be  developed, 

25  See  text  of  law,  p.  14S. 

28  See  text  of  law.  pp.  154-15fi. 

27  See   section   on   California,   pp.   55-71. 

28  See  text  of  law,  pp.  140-151. 


UNIFYING    COUNTY   WORK.  7 

The  varied  duties  that  have  been  placed  upon  the  county  superin- 
tendents of  public  welfare  of  North  Carolina  include  enforcing  school 
attendance,  poor  relief,  aftercare  of  persons  released  from  hospitals 
or  institutions,  parole,  probation,  preventing-  juvenile  delinquency, 
promoting  wholesome  recreation,  supervising  children  placed  in  fam- 
ily homes,  finding  employment,  enforcing  the  child  labor  law,  in- 
specting county  institutions,  acting  as  agent  of  the  State  board  "  in 
relation  to  any  work  to  be  done  by  the  State  board  in  the  county," 
and,  as  a  general  provision,  ascertaining  conditions  and  causes  of 
poverty  and  distress  in  the  county.  The  Missouri  law,  which  applies 
to  counties  with  a  population  under  50,000,  specifies  an  equally  im- 
posing list  of  duties :  Acting  as  an  auxiliary  to  the  State  board  of 
charities  and  corrections ;  administering  all  the  funds  of  the  county 
devoted  to  outdoor  relief  and  allowances  to  needy  mothers;  aftercare 
of  the  insane;  supervision  over  persons  placed  on  probation  or  on 
parole;  oversight  of  dependent  children;  securing  employment;  act- 
ing as  deputy  State  factory  inspector  and  as  attendance  officer;  in- 
vestigating causes  of  distress  and  delinquency;  and  protecting 
neglected,  dependent,  defective,  or  delinquent  children  of  the  county. 
It  should  be  noted  that  in  both  States  it  is  the  intent  of  the  law 
that  the  county  superintendents  of  public  welfare  shall  be  furnished 
such  assistance  as  may  be  required  for  the  proper  performance  of 
these  manifold  duties. 

The  new  Virginia  law  authorizing  the  creation  of  county  and  city 
boards  of  public  welfare  and  the  appointment  of  superintendents  of 
public  welfare  as  executive  officers  of  such  boards,  as  the  first  item 
invests  the  superintendent  with  the  powers  of  a  police  officer  or  con- 
stable. This  is  followed  by  a  list  of  duties  that  include:  Care  and 
supervision  of  the  poor;  administration  of  mothers'  aid  funds;  parole 
and  probation  work;  supervision  over  dependent  children  placed  in 
the  city  or  county  by  the  State  board;  acting  as  agent  of  the  State 
board  in  any  work  to  be  done  in  the  locality;  investigating  the  causes 
of  distress  and  other  conditions,  and  fostering  cooperation  among  the 
public  and  private  social  agencies  of  the  county  or  city.  The  Vir- 
ginia law  specifies  that  two  or  more  counties,  or  a  city  of  the  first 
class  and  a  county,  may  unite  in  providing  for  a  superintendent  of 
public  welfare.  The  power  to  combine  the  public  welfare  work  of 
two  or  more  counties  makes  possible  the  development  of  a  construc- 
tive program  in  counties  in  which  the  volume  of  work  would  be  too 
small  or  the  expense  too  heavy  to  permit  the  immediate  establish- 
ment of  independent  units. 

The  question  of  the  scope  of  work  of  the  county  board — whether 
it  should  be  limited  to  child  welfare  or  should  include  all  types  of 
social  welfare  work — is  largely  a  matter  of  local  expediency.  The 
policy  adopted  must  depend  mainly  on  the  amount  of  work  that 


8  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION"   FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

will  devolve  upon  the  hoard  and  its  executive  officer  and  the  ade- 
quacy of  the  assistance  that  can  he  provided.  State  and  local  re- 
sources for  agency  and  institutional  care  are  also  important  factors 
in  considering  what  types  of  work  it  is  practicable  to  undertake. 
In  Minnesota  the  county  work  is  under  the  auspices  of  the  children's 
bureau  of  the  State  hoard  of  control,  and  the  work  of  the  county 
boards  is  primarily  related  to  child  welfare.  In  the  other  Statesmen- 
tioned  above  the  field  of  work  is  more  general,  though  considerable 
emphasis  is  placed  on  child-welfare  activities.  In  the  list  of  duties 
of  the  North  Carolina  county  superintendents  of  public  welfare  six 
relate  to  children,  six  to  children  or  adults,  and  three  to  adults 
only.29  Likewise,  in  Missouri  and  Virginia  the  duties  of  the  super- 
intendents of  public  welfare  as  outlined  in  the  laws  relate  somewhat 
more  largely  to  child  care  and  protection  than  to  work  concerning 
adults  and  community  conditions.  In  populous  counties  it,  is  obvi- 
ously more  practicable  than  in  counties  with  scattered  populations 
to  separate  out  the  work  dealing  with  children.  Work  with  de- 
pendent families  and  activities  delegated  by  State  boards  having 
general  powers  and  duties,  as  well  as  efforts  for  social  reconstruction 
in  the  community,  can  not  always  be  divided  to  advantage  into  child 
and  adult  problems.  It  is,  of  course,  conceded  that  where  the 
work  of  child  care  and  protection,  public  health,  family  relief,  or 
other  special  groups  of  activities,  is  extensive  enough  to  warrant 
dealing  with  each  separately,  it  would  not  be  practicable  to  develop 
the  same  type  of  centralization  as  would  be  suitable  in  counties 
where  all  the  work  can  be  coordinated  through  the  medium  of  one 
worker  or  of  a  superintendent  with  the  necessary  assistants. 

Organization  of  social  work  in  counties  is  a  basic  part  of  the  de- 
veloping field  of  activity  of  the  Alabama  Child  Welfare  Depart- 
ment. The  law  creating  this  department,  passed  in  1919,  places 
upon  it  the  duty  "  to  advise  with  the  judges  and  probation  officers  of 
the  juvenile  courts  of  the  several  counties  of  the  State  and  to  en- 
courage and  perfect  the  work  of  such  courts  throughout  the  State ; 
to  exercise  general  supervision  over  the  administration  and  enforce- 
ment of  existing  laws  governing  apprenticeships,  adoptions,  and 
child-placing  agencies;  to  require  reports  from  courts,  *  *  *  to 
make  surveys,  and  to  hold  conferences  and  conventions  for  the  pur- 
pose of  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  this  act  and  of  promoting  the 
welfare  of  minor  children,  and  to  that  end  to  enlist  the  cooperation 
of  any  State,  county,  or  municipal  official."  30  The  law  further  pro- 
vides that  the  county  board  of  education  shall  divide  the  county, 


^Beasley,  R.  F.  :  Program  of  Work  for  County  Superintendents  of  Public  Welfare  In- 
cluding- Instructions  in  Methods  and  Procedure  of  Keeping  Records,  pp.  5-6,  State  Board 
of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare,  Raleigh,  N.  C,  1919. 

30  Alabama  Laws,  1919,  No.  457,  sec.  2. 


UNIFYING    COUNTY    WORK.  9 

exclusive  of  cities,  into  one  or  more  attendance  districts,  and  shall 
appoint  an  attendance  officer  for  every  district  created,  and  that  the 
board  of  education  of  each  city  of  2,000  or  more  inhabitants  shall 
appoint  one  or  more  attendance  officers,  "provided  that  this  article 
shall  be  so  interpreted  as  to  make  it  possible  for  city  and  county 
boards  of  education,  boards  of  revenue,  and.courts  of  county  commis- 
sioners to  jointly  employ  any  person  or  persons  to  carry  out  the  pro- 
visions of  this  article  and  such  additional  duties  as  may  be  assigned 
them  by  such  boards  or  governing  bodies  in  connection  with  the 
juvenile  court  of  the  county  or  the  State  child-welfare  department." 
Under  the  provisions  of  the  law  quoted,  the  Alabama  Child-Wel- 
fare Department  has  undertaken  a  program  of  county  organization. 
The  plan  of  this  work  is  stated  as  follows  by  the  director  of  the 
department : 31 

"The  juvenile  court  is  fundamental  to  the  organization;  a  probation  officer 
is  fundamental  to  the  court.  Without  the  local  machinery  of  the  juvenile 
court  it  would  he  impossible  to  build  up  an  adequate  system  of  child  welfare; 
without  trained  workers  as  probation  officers  little  constructive  work  can  be 
hoped  for. 

We  have  found  counties  we  have  visited  willing  and  anxious  for  the  work, 
but  finances  sufficient  to  carry  on  intelligent  activities  have  not  been  available. 
Trained  probation  officers  have  likewise  been  impossible  to  secure. 

We  have  outlined  a  plan  to  meet  the  first  difficulty  by  persuading  the  board 
of  revenue  or  court  of  commissioners  of  the  various  municipalities  to  pool  their 
interests,  thus  securing  sufficient  funds  for  the  employment  of  an  all-time 
worker. 

It  has  become  pretty  generally  recognized  that  practically  every  attendance 
problem  involves  a  family  problem.  *  *  *  It  is  our  ultimate  aim  to  build 
up  county  welfare  units  in  such  a  way  that  there  may  be  no  loss  of  motion,  no 
overlapping  of  effort.  For  the  present,  we  have  been  satisfied  simply  to  secure 
a  probation  officer  for  a  county,  expecting  to  gradually  persuade  the  counties 
to  pool  all  their  interests.     *     *     * 

In  the  counties  we  have  visited,  in  order  to  show  each  county  the  special  need 
existing,  we  have  undertaken  social  surveys.  The  results  have  been  amazing 
*  *  *  Until  the  counties  ;•■<;>  organized,  and  until  trained  workers  nssunio 
the  responsibility,  we  can  only  move  in  a  vicious  circle.  *  *  *  Wo  must 
build  up  public  sentiment:  we  must  show  every  county  that  it  has  the  destiny 
of  its  children  in  its  own  hands     *     *     * 

The  Pennsylvania  county  program,  which  is  just  being  developed, 
is  of  special  interest  because  it  includes  the  health,  industrial,  edu- 
cational, and  social  service  interests. 

The  Pennsylvania  Departments  of  Health.  Labor  and  Industry, 
Public  Instruction,  and  Public  Welfare  have  entered  into  coopera- 
tion for  the  promotion  of  general  community  welfare  work  ami 
for  the  coordination  of  their  own  activities  within  the  State.     To 

31  Mrs.   L.   P..   Rush,   in   Alabama   Childhood,   the   Official    Bulletin  Child- 

Welfare  Department  of  Alabama,  vol.  1,  no.  i   (April-May-June,  1921),  pp.  30,  35,  •"■>'>. 

111532°— 22 2 


10  COUNTY   OKCAXI/ATlo.Y    FOE   CHILD   CARE. 

this  end,  :i  Commonwealth  committee  has  been  organized  composed 
of  six  members — two  members  of  the  commission  of  public  welfare; 
one  representative  appointed  by  the  commissioner  of  health:  one 
appointed  by  the  commissioner  of  health;  one  appointed  by  the 
commissioner  of  labor  and  industry;  one  appointed  by  the  superin- 
tendent of  public  instruction;  and  one  appointed  by  the  commis- 
sioner of  public  welfare.  The  committee  will  serve  us  a  clearing- 
house for  public-welfare  plans  and  programs  of  State  departments 
and  for  the  coordination  of  such  plans  for  presentation  to  the 
county  organizations  for  their  development.32 

The  Commonwealth  committee  on  invitation  from  any  responsible 
group  of  citizens  within  a  county  undertakes  the  organization  of  a 
county  welfare  board.  The  chairman  of  the  board  is  selected  by 
the  committee  and  approved  by  the  State  commissioners  of  labor 
and  industry,  health,  and  public  welfare,  and  by  the  superintendent 
of  public  instruction.  The  county  board  is  composed  of  11  mem- 
bers, including  ex  officio  the  count}?-  medical  director  ami  the  county 
superintendent  of  schools.  The  mothers'  assistance  fund  hoard, 
the  county  commissioners,  and  the  county  poor  board  appoint  rep- 
resentatives to  the  county  welfare  board.  The  six  members  thus 
chosen,  together  with  the  Commonwealth  committee,  call  a  con- 
ference of  representatives  of  all  reputable  organizations  within  the 
county  doing  general  or  special  welfare  wrork.  At  this  meeting 
a  county  welfare  council  is  organized,  consisting  of  one  delegate  and 
one  alternate  from  each  of  the  member  organizations,  individual 
members,  and  the  members  of  the  county  welfare  board.  The 
council  nominates  to  the  Commonwealth  committee  citizens  of  the 
county  to  serve  as  members  of  the  county  welfare  board.  Not  more 
than  five  are  appointed  by  the  Commonwealth  committee  from  the 
persons  so  nominated.  The  Commonwealth  committee  may  also 
nominate  members  of  the  board. 

The  county  welfare  board,  under  the  plan,  will  organize  through- 
out the  county,  in  townships,  boroughs,  and  cities,  "social  ma- 
chinery to  promote  welfare  activities,  both  private  and  public,  along 
lines  of  health,  education,  labor  and  industry,  and  general  welfare. 
These  various  subdivisions  of  public  welfare  work  shall  be  known 
as  divisions  and  shall  be  represented  in  each  community  by  a 
director  who  shall  be  immediately  responsible  to  the  county  welfare 
board."  33 

The  duties  of  the  county  welfare  board  are  outlined  as  follows 
in  the  plan  prepared  by  the  Commonwealth  committee : 

3-  From  mimeographed  statement  entitled  "  County  Welfare  Organization,.  Common- 
wealth of  Pennsylvania."  Commonwealth  Committee,  Dej>artuieiit  of  PuMic  Welfare, 
Hani  si  Hirer,  Pa. 

::;  From   mimeographed  statement  cited. 


UNIFYING    COUNTY    WORK.  11 

The  county  welfare  board  shall,  in  cooperation  with  the  county  welfare  coun- 
cil, promote  the  establishment  of  a  county  (and  local)  social  service  exchange; 
it  shall  promote  in  every  way  possible  all  social-welfare  activities  of  private 
institutions  and  agencies  which  conform  to  approved  standards,  but  it  shall  not 
dictate  plans  or  policies  of  private  member  organizations;  it  shall  endeavor  to 
discover  any  omissions  in  the  social-welfare  program  of  the  county  and  to 
make  provision  for  that  lack;  it  shall  call  to  the  attention  of  the  Commonwealth 
committee  any  failure  on  the  part  of  the  several  State  departments  to  live  up 
to  their  obligations  for  service  to  the  county;  it  shall  endeavor  to  promote  the 
special  welfare  programs  submitted  to  it  from  time  to  time  through  the  Com- 
monwealth committee  so  far  as  time,  money,  and  personnel  permit. 

It  shall  cause  to  be  compiled  and  made  available  in  suitable  form,  a  directory 
of  social-welfare  agencies  within  the  county  and  in  addition  such  State  agencies 
and  institutions  as  may  be  available  to  the  State  as  a  whole. 

When  practicable,  office  space  centrally  located  shall  be  provided  for  the 
records  of  the  organization  and  to  facilitate  the  transaction  of  business.  (This 
office  space  may  be  provided  by  a  cooperating  organization  or  in  county  munici- 
pal or  school  buildings,  if  available.) 

The  county  welfare  board  shall  encourage  regular  conferences  of  all  welfare 
workers  in  the  countX  teachers,  public-health  nurses,  probation  officers,  social- 
case  workers,  etc.,  for  the  purpose  of  stimulating  coordinated  effort  in  connec- 
tion with  common  problems.  If  the  work  of  the  county  welfare  board  warrants, 
the  board  shall  be  encouraged  to  employ  a  county  welfare  agent  (or  superintend- 
ent )  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  furt  *•  all  social  activities  of  the  county  welfare 
board  and  to  develop  the  efficiency  of  the  organization. 

The  Commonwealth  committee  shall,  in  addition  to  its  duties  of  organization, 
also  serve  as  a  clearing  house  for  the  various  programs  of  the  several  State 
departments  of  health,  labor  and  industry,  education  and  welfare,  as  they 
concern  the  public  welfare,  in  order  that  duplication  of  effort  may  be  avoided 
and  to  promote  efficiency  in  the  efforts  of  the  county  welfare  boards. 

Two  counties  have  already  34  been  organized  under  the  plan,  and 
two  more  have  progressed  so  far  as  to  have  county  councils  of  social 
agencies.  The  county  organizations  will  probably  work  for  such 
measures  as  better  school  conditions;  better  conditions  in  poorhouses 
and  jails;  trained  workers  for  child  placement;  social-service  ex- 
changes on  a  county  basis;  the  development  of  mental-health  clinics. 
in  cooperation  with  State  departments;  the  development  of  baby- 
health  stations  and  prenatal  work;  and  the  enforcement  of  child- 
labor  laws. 

The  annual  report  of  the  South  Carolina  State  Board  of  Public 
"Welfare  for  1921 35  states  that  the  board.  "  appreciating  the  fact  that 
the  success  of  any  movement  for  the  betterment  of  society's  institu- 
tions or  of  social  conditions  depends  upon  the  extent  and  character 
of  the  education  of  the  local  community  and  the  imperative  need  for 
improvement  in  the  penal  and  charitable  institutions  of  some  of  the 
counties  of  the  State,"  in  1920  created  the  position  of  county  agent 
of  the  board  "  whose  duty  it  is  to  be  a  liaison  officer  between  the  com- 

84  By  May  5,  1922.     In  Juno  a  community  organizer  was  employed  by  the  S 
35  Second  Animal  Report  <>r  tli<-  State  Board  <<f  PudUc  Welfare  of  South  Carolina,  1921, 
Vol.  IT,  No.  IV,  p.  27.      Columbia,  S.   C,  1021-1022. 


12  COUNT'S    ORGANIZATION    FOB    CHILD    CARE. 

Enmity  and  the  centra]  office  of  the  Stale  hoard  of  public  welfare." 
According  to  this  report  there  is  now  a  local  committee,  appointed 
by  the  board,  in  every  county  of  the  State.  The  local  committees 
inspect  quarterly  the  jails,  chain  gangs,  and  almshouses,  and  report 
on  them  to  the  State  board.  They  assisl  persons  paroled  from 
public  institutions,  cooperate  with  the  probate  court  judges  and  the 
Stale  hoard  in  handling  dependent  and  delinquent  children  in  their 
counties,  and  aid  the  State  board  in  other  ways. 

COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOR    THE   CARE   OF    DEPENDENT 

CHILDREN. 

In  Indiana  the  duties  of  the  county  boards  of  children's  guardians 
relate  specifically  to  the  care  of  dependent  children,  including  aid  to 
children  in  their  own  homes.  The  duties  of  the  county  child-welfare 
boards  of  Arizona — which  are  adjuncts  of  the  State  child-welfare 
board — also  are  limited  to  the  care  and  protection  of  destitute  and 
neglected  children,  and  aid  to  mothers  of  dependent  children.  In 
place  of  maintaining  county  children's  homes,  Ohio  counties  were  in 
1921  empowered  to  appoint  county"  boards  of  child  welfare  which 
should  provide  care  for  dependent  children,  especially  through  plac- 
ing and  supervising  them  in  family,  homes.  The  county  boards  of 
child  welfare  created  in  Dutchess  and  Suffolk  Counties  through 
special  acts  of  the  New  York  Legislature  are  charged  with  duties 
respecting  destitute,  neglected,  delinquent,  and  defective  children 
under  16  years  of  age.  A  general  law  was  enacted  for  New  York 
State  in  1922,  authorizing  the  extension  of  the  powers  and  duties 
of  the  previously  existing  boards  of  child  welfare,  which  had  the 
administration  of  mothers'  allowances,  to  include  the  relief  and  care 
of  dependent  children  received  by  them  as  public  charges  or  com- 
mitted to  them  by  the  courts. 

COUNTY    CHILD-WELFARE   WORK    DEVELOPED    BY    PRIVATE 

AGENCIES. 

The  outstanding  example  of  the  development  of  county  work  for 
children  through  a  private  organization  with  a  state-wide  program 
of  work  is  described  in  a  later  section36  of  this  publication  dealing 
with  the  county  organization  work  of  the  New  York  State  Charities 
Aid  Association.  For  almost  30  years  this  society  has  been  working 
out  cooperation  with  public  officials — in  a  total  of  more  than  20  coun- 
ties— looking  toward  eventual  centralizing  of  child-welfare  activities 
under  properly  equipped  public  boards.  The  recent  rapid  develop- 
ment of  interest  in  county  child-welfare  work  as  a  public  function  in 
New  York  State  is  evidence  of  the  value  of  this  experiment,  which 

M  See  pp.  93-108. 


UNIFYING    COUNTY   WORK.  13 

undoubtedly  has  also  influenced  county  welfare  activities  in  other 
States. 

Monmouth  County,37  N.  J.,  is  another  well-known  example  of 
county  organization  under  private  auspices.  The  work  in  this 
county  is  more  diverse,  including  child-welfare  work  of  various 
types,  public-health  activities,  and  work  in  cooperation  with  the 
State  department  of  institutions  and  agencies.  The  plan  developed 
in  this  county  has  not  as  yet  been  extended  into  other  counties  of  the 
State. 

The  Florida  Children's  Aid  Society,  which  occupies  a  leading  posi- 
tion in  social  work  in  a  State  having  as  yet  no  State  board  dealing 
with  problems  of  dependency,  correction,  and  social  welfare,  has  been 
making  a  study  of  the  counties  of  the  State  in  regard  to  the  relief 
situation,  mothers'  pensions,  the  need  for  probation  work,  and  similar 
problems,  with  special  reference  to  the  possibilities  of  securing  or- 
ganized social  work  on  a  county-wide  basis.38  This  activity  was  oc- 
casioned by  the  difficulties  met  with  by  the  society  in  its  child-caring 
work,  which  indicated  the  need  for  organization  of  the  resources  of 
the  counties  and  development  of  constructive  social  work  for  child 
welfare. 

RAISING  THE  STANDARDS  OF  COUNTY  WORK. 

The  character  of  the  work  accomplished  depends  on  what  the 
county  board  and  the  superintendent  make  of  it.  The  law  may 
enumerate  the  duties,  but  it  can  not  fix  the  quality  of  the  service 
given.  It  is  here  that  the  supervisory  authority  of  the  State  board 
is  of  the  greatest  importance  in  securing  the  appointment  of  execu- 
tive officers  qualified  for  the  work,  and  in  furnishing  advice  and 
assistance  to  the  county  boards.  In  most  of  the  States  in  which  the 
central  board  has  a  direct  relation  to  the  county  work,  the  State 
board  has  some  control  over  appointments  of  superintendents  or 
executive  secretaries  of  the  local  boards,  either  through  authority 
given  by  law  or  in  an  advisory  capacity.  Some  provision  is  usually 
made  for  periodic  reports  by  the  executive  of  the  county  board  to 
the  State  board  or  boards  most  directly  concerned  in  the  work  done. 

Especially  in  rural  communities  where  there  has  been  no  activity 
of  the  kind,  the  impetus  to  organization  of  county  social  work  must 
come  from  an  outside  source.  The  county  organization  program 
undertaken  by  the  Missouri  State  "Board  of  Charities  and  Correc- 
tions illustrates  the  type  of  aid  that  is  usually  found  necessary  in 
order  that  laws  relating  to  county  boards  of  public  welfare  may 
become  effective.     Under  the  Missouri  law  of  1921,  the  county  court 

37  See  pp.  70-SS. 

38 Johnson,  Marcia  Pratt:  "County  Relief  and  Probation  Systems:  in  Florida."  Paper 
presented  before  the  Florida  State  Conference  of  Social  Work,  April,   Ui'-'l'. 


14  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOB   CHILD    CAEE. 

(corresponding  to  county  commissioners  in  most  States)  appoints 
the  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare,  usually  on  petition  of 
a  committee  of  citizens.  The  State  board,  in  order  to  arouse  local 
interest  in  establishing  the  county  work,  has  undertaken  a  campaign 
of  education  in  regard  to  existing  conditions  in  the  counties  and  the 
purposes  of  the  proposed  county  work.  A  field  worker  especially 
assigned  to  this  county  activity  secures  preliminary  information  in 
regard  to  dependency,  delinquency,  and  other  problems  in  a  county, 
and  organizes  a  civic  committee  composed  of  representatives  of  each 
town.  Meetings  are  held  in  order  to  bring  the  situation  before  the 
citizens  of  the  county,  and  the  committee  presents  to  the  county  court 
a  formal  request  that  action  be  taken  to  appoint  a  superintendent  of 
public  welfare.  The  State  board  endeavors  to  guide  the  selection  of 
superintendents,  in  order  that  they  may  be  appointed  because  of 
fitness  for  the  work  rather  than  by  political  preferment.  The  State 
board  is  to  supply  record  forms  for  the  use  of  the  county  superin- 
tendents, who  will  report  regularly  to  the  board. 

The  problem  of  securing  for  this  public  social  work  executives 
and  assistants  who  have  had  the  advantage  of  training  that  equips 
them  for  their  duties,  offers,  perhaps,  the  greatest  difficulty  in  con- 
nection with  county  organization.  It  is  essential  that  the  workers 
in  this  for  the  most  part  new  and  uncharted  field  shall  be  persons  of 
understanding  and  of  judgment  broadened  through  study  and  prac- 
tical experience.  They  should  have  knowledge  of  the  best  standards 
of  practice  in  specialized  agencies  in  highly  developed  urban  com- 
munities, as  well  as  of  the  conditions  which  must  be  met  and  the 
methods  which  must  be  followed  by  the  general  rural  practitioner. 
The  developing  work  of  the  State  universities,  through  their  special 
departments  for  training  in  social  work,  their  extension  depart- 
ments, and  similar  activities  that  reach  into  the  remotest  parts  of  the 
States,  is  a  most  important  factor  in  the  movement  toward  socializing 
and  localizing  governmental  functions.  Not  only  in  the  States  long 
credited  with  being  progressive  in  State  and  local  work,  but — even 
more  significant — in  the  States  in  which  social  legislation  is  of  recent 
growth,  the  State  institutions  of  higher  education  are  becoming  im- 
portant agencies  for  promoting  understanding  of  social  problems  and 
providing  training  in  constructive  methods  of  dealing  with  them. 

One  of  the  most  important  phases  of  the  development  of  county 
social  work  in  North  Carolina  is  the  cooperation  between  the  State 
university  and  the  State  board  of  charities  and  public  welfare  in 
equipping  workers  for  county  activities.  There  is  an  active  relation- 
ship between  the  two  bodies  in  that  the  head  of  the  State  university 
school  of  public  welfare  is  the  "consulting  expert"  of  the  State 
board.  The  university  gives  special  courses  in  training  for  social 
work,  combining  theory  and  practice,  especially  as  applied  to  condi- 


UNIFYING    COUNTY    WORK.  15 

tions  in  a  State  that  is  largely  rural.  In  cooperation  with  the  State 
board  the  university  has  given  summer  courses  for  county  superin- 
tendents of  public  welfare,  and  two  weeks  of  intensive  training  have 
been  provided  free  of  charge. 

The  development  of  standards  of  county  work  is  in  several  of 
the  States  carried  on  partly  through  bulletins  or  news  letters,  in 
printed  or  multigraphed  form,  issued  monthly  or  at  longer  intervals 
by  State  boards.39  In  the  States  having  county  organization  of  the 
types  under  consideration,  these  bulletins  serve  as  a  medium  for 
the  exchange  of  information  concerning  social  welfare  activities 
in  the  State,  and  other  items  of  special  interest  to  local  work 
In  some  States,  for  example  Missouri.  North  Carolina,  and  South 
Carolina,  the  State  departments  publish  quarterly  bulletins  dealing 
with  special  problems.  The  series  of  quarterly  bulletins  issued  by 
the  North  Carolina  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare  40 
is  especially  noteworthy  in  connection  with  the  promotion  of 
county  organization.  Several  of  these  publications  are  in  the 
nature  of  handbooks  for  the  information  and  instruction  of  the 
county  workers  in  the  purposes  of  the  laws  relating  to  the  county 
boards  of  public  welfare,  their  local  application,  and  the  relation 
of  the  county  activities  to  the  State  board. 

In  May,  1919,  there  was  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Minne- 
sota State  Board  of  Control  the  first  State  conference  of  child- 
welfare  boards.41  The  first  sessions  were  devoted  to  discussion  of 
the  functions  of  the  various  State  boards  in  regard  to  child  wel- 
fare, State  institutions  for  children,  and  explanation  of  child  la 
and  compulsory  school  attendance  laws.  At  the  later  sessions  the 
discussion  concerned  the  problems  to  be  dealt  with  by  the  county 
boards,  and  reports  were  made  on  county  activities  already  under- 
way. The  Minnesota  law,  recognizing  the  value  of  this  form  of 
education,  provides  that  one  representative  from  each  county  child- 
welfare  board  may,  at  the  expense  of  the  county,  attend  the  annual 
State  conference  of  social  work.  In  this  way  is  continued  the  work 
begun  in  the  first  special  conference  of  child-welfare  boards,  through 

39  Following  is  a  partial  list  of  such  news  letters  or  bulletins  issued  by  State  1> 
including  States  in  which  there  is  no  si>ecial  county  organization:  Arkansas:  The  Com- 
mission of  Charities  and  Corrections,  Little  Rock,  "The  Round  Table."  California-:  State 
Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  San  Francisco,  "County  Welfare  Letter"  and  "Child 
Welfare  Letter."  Georgia:  Department  of  Public  Welfare,  Atlanta,  "Children's  Insti- 
tutions News  Letter."  Massachusetts:  Department  of  Public  Welfare,  Boston,  "The 
News  About  the  Department."  North  Carolina:  The  Slate  Board  of  Charities  and  Public 
Welfare,  Raleigh,  "Public  Welfare  Progress."  Ohio:  Division  of  Charities,  Department 
of  Public  Welfare,  Columbus,  "Welfare  Exchange."  Oregon:  Child  Welfare  Commission, 
Portland,  "Bulletin."  Pennsylvania:  Department  of  Public  Welfare,  Harrisburg,  "The 
Common  Weal";  also  news  letter  issued  by  the  Division  of  juvenile  Delinquency.  South 
Carolina:  State  Board  of  Public  Welfare,  Columbia,  "The    News  Letter." 

40  See  list,  pp.  172-173. 

41  Proceedings  of   the    First    Conference  of   Child- Welfare    Boards   with    the   Board   of 
Control,  St.  Paul,  Minn.,  1019. 


16  COUNTY    01!i;.\\l/ATI')X    FOR    CHILD    CARE. 

special  sessions  for  county  board  members  and  workers.  North 
Carolina  1ms  a  State  organization  of  superintendents  of  public 
welfare,  which  holds  its  annual  meeting  just  preceding  the  State 
conference  of  social  work.  The  object  of  such  conferences  is  not  only 
to  furnish  opportunities  for  discussion  of  special  county  problems, 
bul  to  give  the  county  workers  an  opportunity  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  wider  work  of  the  State  and  with  the  trend  of 
social  progress  in  the  country. 

THE  TYPES  OF  COUNTY  ORGANIZATION  REPRESENTED  IN  THIS 

PUBLICATION. 

The  examples  of  county  organization  described  in  the  succeed- 
ing sections  of  this  publication  represent  varied  types  of  work  in 
progress  under  differing  State  and  local  conditions.  Diverse  as 
have  been  the  methods  of  approach  and  the  scope  of  activities  of  the 
county  organizations  here  dealt  with,  the  basic  principles  are  in 
agreement. 

In  this  introductory  section  there  has  already  been  discussion  of 
the  Minnesota  and  North  Carolina  types  of  county  organization  as 
representing  definite  coordination  of  work  between  the  State  and 
local  boards — the  one  devoted  to  child  welfare,  the  other  covering 
the  wider  range  of  public  welfare  activities.  It  has  been  pointed 
out  that  these  States  have  placed  special  emphasis  on  the  development 
of  high  standards  of  work,  through  educating  the  citizens  of  the  State 
and  the  county  board  members  and  workers  in  the  purposes  and 
methods  of  constructive  social  work.  The  California  program  of 
county  organization,  promoted  directly  by  the  State  board  of  char- 
ities and  correction,  is  the  outcome  of  the  State  board's  desire  to 
secure  the  unification  of  all  public  social  work  in  the  counties,  pri- 
marily in  order  that  the  State  may  thereby  have  local  assistance  in 
its  work  and  also  for  the  advancement  of  such  reconstructive  work  in 
the  community  as  will  lessen  the  burdens  imposed  upon  the  State 
through  poverty,  delinquency,  crime,  and  mental  deficiency.  The 
county  board  plans  in  Minnesota  and  North  Carolina  were  the  sub- 
jects of  special  legislation,  the  laws  of  the  former  giving  general 
authority  to  the  State  board  of  control  to  appoint  boards  when  there 
was  local  request  for  such  action;  in  the  latter  an  act  of  the  legisla- 
ture provided  for  the  creation  of  county  public-welfare  boards  and 
county  superintendents  of  public  welfare,  with  a  detailed  outline  of 
duties.  California  is  of  interest  as  representing  work  undertaken 
by  the  State  board,  not  as  the  result  of  a  special  legislative  act,  but 
in  virtue  of  its  general  powers,  and  as  a  part  of  a  constructive  pro- 
gram of  state-wide  effort  to  improve  conditions  and  to  provide  bet- 
ter care  and  protection  to  children  and  adults  in  need  of  public 
assistance. 


UNIFYING    COUNTY   WORK.  17 

County  social  work  in  New  Jersey,  especially  the  outstanding  or- 
ganization in  Monmouth  County,  and  the  county  child-welfare  work 
developed  by  the  New  York  State  Charities  Aid  Association  in  some 
twenty  counties,  have  been  referred  to  as  examples  of  such  activities 
fostered  by  private  agencies  working  in  cooperation  with  public 
officials.  In  these  undertakings  the  main  purpose  has  been  to  demon- 
strate the  desirability  of  unification  and  extension  of  county  child- 
welfare  or  public-welfare  activities.  The  adoption  of  the  county 
child-welfare  organization  idea  as  a  public  policy  in  New  York 
State  has  borne  out  the  value  of  the  experiments  made  in  this  State. 

The  section  on  the  growth  of  the  Westchester  County  child-wel- 
fare work  has  been  included  because  it  is  an  outstanding  illustration 
of  a  high  type  of  public  administration  of  child- welfare  work  in  its 
various  phases.  The  organization  in  this  county  may  perhaps  be 
considered  more  applicable  in  general  to  State  than  to  county  con- 
ditions, because  of  the  large  population  and  the  complexity  and  ex- 
tent of  the  problems  dealt  with.  But  it  is  an  especially  valuable  ex- 
periment in  public  work  on  a  county-wide  basis,  with  the  equipment 
necessary  to  make  such  work  a  constructive  force  for  child  welfare. 
It  is  also  of  interest  because  it  had  its  origin  under  private  auspices, 
and  has  always  maintained  a  close  relation  to  other  child-welfare 
activities  in  the  county. 

These  various  demonstrations  of  the  methods  and  value  of  or- 
ganization of  county  child-welfare  work  bring  out  emphatically  the 
primary  need  of  having  workers  who  are  equipped  for  the  varied 
duties.  This  is  essential  if  the  work  is  to  follow  sound  principles 
and  have  a  constructive  purpose.  The  social  worker  in  a  rural  com- 
munity must  be  all  types  of  worker  in  one.  equipped  not  only  to 
diagnose  needs  and  prescribe  treatment,  but  to  provide  the  means  of 
treatment,  and  gradually  to  work  out  local  resources.  The  linking 
up  of  each  local  community  with  the  central  State  board  has  been 
shown  to  be  of  great  importance  in  county  social  work.  Tn  the 
organized  county  work  described  in  the  following  pages,  the  local 
communities  have  been  left  free  to  develop  their  own  resources, 
while  the  State  body  has  acted  as  adviser  and  has  helped  to  solve 
problems  and  coordinate  activities.  The  assistance  given  by  the 
central  State  board  may  be  summed  up  under  the  following  items: 
Providing  the  means  for  interchange  of  information  and  experiences 
between  county  and  State  workers;  aid  in  the  wise  utilization  of  the 
State's  resources  for  institutional  care:  putting  the  county  worker 
in  touch  with  available  agencies;  interpreting  the  social  legislation 
of  the  State  and  assisting  in  its  application  :  guidance  in  special  types 
of  work;  and,  above  all.  encouragement  and  inspiration  in  working 
toward  a  broader  program  of  prevention  and  reconstruction. 


ORGANIZATION  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  COUNTY  CHILD- 
WELFARE  BOARDS  IN  MINNESOTA.1 

WlIXIAM    W.    HODSON, 

Director,  Children's  Bureau,  Minnesota  State  Board  of  Control. 

STATE    AND    LOCAL    ADMINISTRATION    IN    CHILD-WELFARE 

WORK. 

In  the  field  of  social  service,  as  in  Government,  much  thought  has 
been  directed  to  the  most  effective  method  of  securing  a  proper  cen- 
tralization of  authority  without  destroying  the  principle  of  local 
autonomy.  It  is  generally  recognized  that  in  both  fields  there  are 
many  matters  of  equal  concern-  to  all  persons  within  a  given  geo- 
graphical or  governmental  area,  requiring  a  single  administrative 
unit  upon  which  definite  responsibility  can  be  fixed  and  through 
which  a  harmonized  program  based  upon  reasonable  uniformity  can 
be  achieved.  However,  without  a  recognition  of  purely  local  dif- 
ferences in  situation,  experience,  and  ideals,  and  of  the  necessity  for 
local  control  if  self-conscious  development  is  to  be  secured,  central- 
ized administration  is  likely  to  be  bureaucratic  and  unsuited  to  its 
intended  purpose  by  reason  of  its  isolation. 

When  the  Minnesota  Child  Welfare  Commission  began  its  study 
in  1916,  it  was  confronted  with  the  problem  of  the  proper  relation 
between  State  and  local  governments  in  child-welfare  administration. 
State  machinery  for  the  protection  of  children  seemed  essential,  but 
the  commission  early  felt  the  need  for  local  adaptation  and  control. 
A  quotation  from  the  report  of  that  body  is  illuminating  in  this 
connection  :  - 

At  present  the  function  of  ultimate  guardianship  is  exercised  by  the  State, 
with  respect  to  handicapped  children,  only  through  the  courts  and  the  public 
institutions  to  which  the  court  makes  commitments  *  *  *.  Except  as  to  the 
limited  work  done  by  the  Bureau  of  Women  and  Children  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment of  Labor,  it  is  literally  true  that  no  State  agency  in  Minnesota  is  charged 
with  the  duty  of  seeing  that  children  who  need  the  help  of  the  State  by  reason 
of  their  peculiar  social  handicaps  have  that  help  afforded  them,  either  through 
court  action  or  otherwise.  The  initiative  is  left  with  private  persons  and  or- 
ganizations. Present  laws  lay  upon  the  boai'd  of  control  general  duties  in  the 
matter  of  inspecting  certain  child-helping  organizations  and  institutions  ten- 
ducted  by  them;  but  these  laws  are  far  too  vague  to  be  thoroughly  effective, 
and  as  to  children  not  in  institutions,  public  or  private,  the  board  has  no  duties 
whatsoever. 

1  This  manuscript  was  completed  in  March,   1922. 

2  Report  of  the  Minnesota  Child- Welfare  Commission,  1917,.  pp.  10,  11.      St.  Caul. 

19 


20  COIN  TV    ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

Ii  hits  seemed  to  the  commission,  therefore,  that  the  prime  requisite  of  its 
scheme  Is  to  centralize  the  State's  authority  and  duly,  so  far  as  practicable,  in 
.•in  official  group  [the  State  board  of  control].  *  *  *  Tliis  machinery  oper- 
ates in  every  part  of  the  Stale  through  the  county  child-welfare  boards. 

The  coordination  of  local  agencies  with  a  central  one  is  expected  to  be  an 
educative  'nice  of  great  value  in  developing  right  ideals  and  methods  of  work 
for  children  throughout  the  Slate,  besides  affording  opportunity  and  responsi- 
bility for  initiative  new  nowhere  found. 

In  this  discussion  of  the  organization  and  development  of  child- 
welfare  boards  in  Minnesota,  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  writer  to  discuss 
the  relation  between  the  State  and  the  local  government  in  the  child- 
welfare  field,  with  particular  emphasis  upon  the  powTers  and  duties 
of  the  county  child-welfare  boards.  It  is  hardly  to  be  claimed  that 
Minnesota  has  an  ideal  plan  for  local  administration.  The  effort  is 
merely  to  describe  it  as  it  exists  after  three  years  of  operation. 
Before  turning  directly  to  the  subject  it  is  necessary  to  consider  first 
the  sphere  of  governmental  activity  as  distinguished  from  private 
effort,  and  second  the  general  functions  of  the  State  department  from 
which  the  local  boards  in  part  derive  their  powers. 

THE  SPHERE  OF  THE  PUBLIC  AND  OF  THE  PRIVATE  AGENCY. 

What  duties  in  behalf  of  children  are  naturally  within  the  sphere 
of  governmental  as  distinguished  from  private  agencies?  Apart 
from  institutional  care,  this  question  has  not  been  given  the  amount 
of  consideration  it  deserves,  because  in  most  parts  of  the  country 
State  and  local  governments  have  been  content  to  permit  the  private 
agency  to  assume  the  chief  responsibility  for  child  care  and  protec- 
tion. Naturally  enough,  the  more  farsighted  agencies  have  been  lead- 
ing the  movement  for  a  larger  measure  of  State  activity. 

It  is  only  within  very  recent  times  that  a  mother  with  dependent 
children  could  secure  financial  cooperation  from  the  county  or  State 
in  keeping  her  family  together,  and  in  most  States,  even  to-day,  that 
assistance  has  to  be  supplemented  from  private  sources.  Whatever 
may  be  the  weaknesses  of  charitable  organizations,  they  have  done 
for  the  State  what  it  should  have  done  for  itself  by  one  means  or 
another,  and  they  have  in  countless  cases  laid  bare  the  results  of 
social  and  industrial  maladjustment  in  a  manner  which  has  resulted 
in  remedial  measures  of  a  fundamental  nature.  Certainly  the  family 
case-work  agency  has  played  no  insignificant  part  in  the  development 
of  workmen's  compensation  laws,  the  minimum  wage,  and  the  pro- 
hibition of  child  labor.  If  the  jurisdiction  of  the  public  and  of  the 
private  agency  in  this  field  has  been  up  to  this  time  largely  a  matter 
of  circumstance,  the  time  has  come  when  some  general  principles 
must  be  formulated  for  the  guidance  of  those  States  which  are  under- 
taking social-welfare  programs. 


MINNESOTA.  21 

In  the  children's  field  the  report  of  the  children's  committee  of  the 
National  Conference  of  Social  Work  made  a  distinct  contribution  to 
the  subject  when  it  stated3  that  public  departments  should  devote 
themselves  to  such  work  "  as  is  based  on  principles  that  are  well  es- 
tablished, require  the  more  permanent  care,  are  more  general  in  appli- 
cation, or  contain  an  element  of  compulsion  or  control,  while  private 
organizations  should  seek  development  in  directions  that  are  more 
experimental,  require  more  temporary  care,  are  more  unusual  in  their 
application,  or  are  carried  on  with  the  cooperation  of  the  families 
benefited." 

The  report  further. expressed  the  judgment  that  children's  work 
not  carried  on  by  the  State  should  nevertheless  be  subject  to  State 
regulation  and  supervision.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  obligation  of 
the  State  to  undertake  protective  work  in  those  fields  where  a  public 
board  can  operate  with  the  greatest  propriety  and  effectiveness,  and  to 
be  assured  that  a  minimum  standard  of  efficiency  is  maintained  by 
private  organizations  in  the  lines  of  work  which  they  can  perform 
more  properly. 

DUTIES   OF  THE  MINNESOTA    STATE   BOARD   OF   CONTROL. 

To  some  extent  the  Minnesota  plan  conforms  to  these  principles. 
The  State  board  of  control  is  the  official  agency  of  the  State  in 
fulfilling  its  obligations  to  children.  This  board  consists  of  five 
members,  of  whom  two  must  be  women,  appointed  by  the  governor 
for  terms  of  six  years.  Prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  1917  legisla- 
tive program,  the  board  had  supervision  and  control  over  17  State 
institutions,  including  those  which  cared  for  dependent,  delinquent, 
and  defective  minors ;  it  was  therefore  natural  that  it  should  as- 
sume the  additional  powers  necessary  to  an  enlarged  program  of 
care  for  children  outside  institutions.  Moreover,  with  a  long  record 
of  efficiency  behind  it,  the  board  had  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
the  legislature  and  of*  the  community.  Under  the  law  of  1917  the 
State  board  of  control  was  authorized  to  create  a  department  within 
itself  to  administer  the  new  laws  relating  to  child  welfare.  In 
pursuance  of  that  authority,  it  has  established  what  is  known  as  the 
children's  bureau  of  the  State  board  of  control. 

The  powers  and  duties  of  the  board  in  relation  to  children  are 
of  a  threefold  character: 

First,  those  of  a  general  protective  nature,  such  as  enforcement  of 
laws  which  are  designed  to  protect  children  from  their  own  anti- 
social conduct  or  the  harmful  acts  of  adults,  and  taking  initiative 
to  conserve  the  interests  of  children  in  all  matters  where  adequate 
provision  has  not  already  been  made.     The  protective  laws  are  those 

3  Cni'stons,  C.  C.  :  "A  community  plan  in  children's  work."  in  Proceedings  of  the 
National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  1915,   p.  95. 


22  COUNTY    ORGANIZATION    FOH    CHILD    ('ARK. 

requiring  thai  the  cases  of  juveniles  under  18  years  of  age  charged 
with  delinquency  be  heard  in  juvenile  courts  and  not  in  the  courts 
of  ordinary  jurisdiction;  laws  which  require  children  to  attend 
school  and  which  prohibit  their  employment  in  industry  at  an  early 
age;  laws  relating  to  sex  offenses  against  young  children  and  girls 
under  the  age  of  18  years;  laws  regulating  dance  halls,  pool  rooms, 
and  other  places  of  commercialized  recreation;  the  law  providing 
for  the  establishment  of  the  paternity  of  children  born  out  of  wed- 
lock; and  the  county  allowance  (mothers'  pensions)  law  for  depend- 
ent children. 

The  second  group  of  duties  relates  to  the  authority  which  is  con- 
ferred upon  the  board  to  accept  the  guardianship  of  handicapped 
children  of  all  types  who  are  committed  by  the  juvenile  courts,  and 
to  make  such  disposition  of  the  children,  in  either  a  temporary  or 
a  permanent  way,  as  the  facts  may  warrant.4 

Third,  specific  duties  are  imposed  upon  the  board  with  regard  to 
particular  classes  of  children  and  institutions  for  their  care. 

Licensing  of  maternity  hospitals  and  organizations  caring  for 
children. 

The  law  enjoins  the  board  to  cooperate  with  juvenile  courts  and  all 
reputable  child-caring  agencies,  and  also  requires  it  to  license  and 
supervise  private  societies,  agencies,  and  institutions  which  receive 
children  for  board  and  care  or  which  place  them  in  family  homes. 
Maternity  hospitals— i.  e.,  all  hospitals  which  receive  more  than  one 
woman  within  a  period  of  six  months  for  confinement  care — are  sub- 
ject to  the  same  licensing  and  supervising  power.  Here  is  recognition 
of  the  right  of  the  State  to  assurance  that  the  care  which  children 
are  receiving  at  the  hands  of  private  institutions  and  organizations 
is  of  such  a  nature  as  to  provide  a  fair  opportunity  for  growth  and 
development.  In  the  exercise  of  this  right,  it  has  been  necessary  to 
prevent  many  who  sought  to  undertake  such  work  from  doing  so. 
usually  those  who  were  looking  for  a  business  opening.  In  the 
great  majority  of  cases  the  problem  has  been  one  of  mutual  counsel 
between  the  State  and  the  private  groups  in  the  attainment  of  higher 
standards  and  of  at  least  a  minimum  of  uniformity  in  principles  and 
technique. 

Supervision  of  placed-out  children. 

Those  agencies  which  place  children  in  free  homes  for  permanent 
care  or  adoption  are  required  to  investigate  and  to  report  their  place- 

4  This   authority    has   been    modified    somewhat   by   a   recent   decision    of   the   Minnesota 

Supreme    Court,    which    holds    that    after    commitment   to    guardianship    and    before    legal 

adoption  by  third  persons,  the  juvenile  court  has  jurisdiction,  upon  a  proper  showing,  to 

hi    children    so   committed    to  the   custody   of   their   parents   from   whom   they  were 

originally  taken. 


MINNESOTA.  23 

ments  to  the  State  board  of  control,  which  investigates  such  cases  and 
may  order  the  return  of  the  child  if  in  its  opinion  the  home  is  not  a 
suitable  one.  The  procedure  here  involves  a  duplication  of  investi- 
gations by  the  private  agency  and  the  State,  which  is  cumbersome 
and  should  be  avoided  if  possible  by  an  agreement  to  accept  as  final 
the  reports  of  such  agencies  as  attain  a  reasonable  standard  of  pro- 
ficiency in  child  placement.  Good  placement  is  fundamental  in 
child-welfare  work.  Nowhere  is  there  greater  need  for  general 
agreement  between  the  public  and  the  private  agency  as  to  principle 
and  method  than  in  this  field,  where  individual  judgment  so  easily 
leads  to  differing  opinions  and  diametrically  opposed  conclusions. 

Investigation  of  adoptions. 

Correlated  with  the  subject  of  placing  children  is  that  of  their  legal 
adoption.  It  has  been  the  prevailing  custom  to  regard  adoption  as  a. 
strictly  legal  process  based  upon  the  sufficiency  of  the  papers  and 
affidavits  presented  to  the  court  having  jurisdiction.  However,  under 
the  Minnesota  law,  the  State  board  of  control  now  receives  copies  of 
the  petitions  filed  in  such  cases  and  is  required  to  investigate  and 
report  to  the  court  as  to  the  suitability  of  the  child  and  the  foster 
home,  each  to  the  other.  The  social  factors  have  been  given  a  place 
of  prime  importance  in  a  proceeding  which  is  essentially  social  in 
all  its  implications,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  adoptions  can  not 
be  legally  perfected  until  the  child  has  been  in  the  foster  home  for 
six  months. 

The  problem  «f  the  unmarried  mother  and  her  child. 

The  adoption  and  placement  of  children  naturally  relates  itself  to 
the  age-long  and  baffling  problem  of  illegitimacy,  for  the  child  born 
out  of  wedlock  is  frequently  in  need  of  a  foster  home.  The  State 
board  of  control  functions  here  by  assisting  the  mother  to  secure 
proper  care  before,  during,  and  after  the  birth  of  her  child,  and  by 
making  it  possible  for  her  to  perform  her  natural  maternal  function 
in  the  early  care  of  the  child.  It  assists  in  establishing  the  paternity 
of  the  child  and  in  conserving  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  mother 
and  child  in  whatever  ways  may  be  necessary.  The  responsibility 
of  illegitimate  paternity  is  by  law  made  the  same  as  that  of  legiti- 
mate, so  far  as  care,  maintenance,  and  education  are  concerned.  The 
board  is  usually  required  to  be  represented  in  court  at  these  hearings 
and  is  authorized,  with  the  approval  of  the.  court,  to  make  financial 
settlements  for  the  child's  support,  to  hold  money  in  trust  for  the 
child,  and  to  disburse  it  from  time  to  time,  as  needed.  If  the  set- 
tlement is  made  in  lump  sum,  the  principal  can  thus  be  conserved 
during  the  full  period  of  the  child's  minority;  in  any  event,  money 
need  be  paid  out  only  after  a  showing,  by  the  mother  or  other  custo- 


24  COUNT?    ORGANIZATION    FOB    CHILD   CASE. 

diaii  of  the  child,  that  good  care  and  wholesome  environment  are 
being  provided  with  the  money  received.  Moreover,  the  activity  of  a 
public  body  in  securing  adequate  settlements,  either  in  lump-sum  or 
monthly  payments,  tends  to  raise  the  amounts  paid  in  such  cases  and 
consequently  improves  the  standards  of  maintenance. 

The  duty  of  the  board  does  not  end  with  the  settlement,  but  relates 
also  to  the  problem  of  follow-up  care  and  the  determination  of 
whether  the  child  shall  remain  with  the  mother  or  whether  other 
provision  shall  be  made  for  him,  as  good  case-work  methods  may 
dictate.  In  general,  the  duties  of  the  State  office  may  be  sum- 
marized in  the  language  of  the  law : 5 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  board  of  control  when  notified  of  a  woman  who  is 
delivered  of  an  illegitimate  child,  or  pregnant  with  child  likely  to  be  illegitimate 
when  born,  to  take  care  that  the  interests  of  the  child  are  safeguarded,  that 
appropriate  steps  are  taken  to  establish  his  paternity,  and  that  there  is  secured 
for  him  the  nearest  possible  approximation  of  the  core,  support,  and  education 
that  he  would  be  entitled  to  if  born  of  lawful  marriage.  For  the  better  accom- 
plishment of  these  purposes  the  board  may  initiate  such  legal  or  other  action 
as  is  deemed  necessary ;  may  make  such  provision  for  the  care,  maintenance, 
and  education  of  the  child  as  the  best  interests  of  the  child  may  from  time  to 
time  require,  and  may  offer  its  aid  and  protection  in  such  ways  as  are  found 
wise  and  expedient  to  the  unmarried  woman  approaching  motherhood. 

County  allowances  for  mothers. 

Minnesota  had  made  provision  for  county  allowances  (mothers' 
pensions)  for  several  years,  and  the  relief  had  been  administered  by 
the  county  juvenile-court  judge,  with  such  assistance  in  the  way  of 
social  investigation  as  the  individual  judge  might  desire  and  be  able 
to  obtain.  In  practice  very  little  investigating  of  such  matters  was 
done  except  in  the  counties  containing  large  cities,  and  the  law  was 
administered  in  a  loose,  unstandardized  fashion. 

The  statute  of  1917  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  State  board  of  control 
to  promote  uniformity  and  efficiency  in  the  giving  of  this  relief  by 
cooperating  with  and  lending  assistance  to  probate  courts.  It  also 
provides  for  a  State  refund  of  one-third  of  the  amount  expended  by 
the  counties,  to  be  paid  upon  the  approval  of  the  board.  No  appro- 
priation has  ever  been  made  for  this  purpose,  but  in  spite  of  that 
fact  an  interrelationship  between  the  courts  and  the  State  and  local 
boards  has  been  developing;  this  cooperation  has  seemed  to  bring 
about  some  improvement,  and  the  situation  gives  hopeful  promise 
for  the  future. 

The  provisions  of  the  law  permit  relief  from  the  county  in  the 
maximum  sum  of  $20  per  month  for  the  first  dependent  child  and 
$15    for  each   of  the   other   dependent   children.      Allowances    are 

5  Minn.  Laws  1917,  eh.   194,  sec.  2. 


MINNESOTA.  25 

granted,  within  the  discretion  of  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court,  for 
those  children  who  are  under  the  age  of  16  years  and  not  lawfully 
entitled  to  an  employment  certificate,  upon  a  showing  that  the  mother 
is  a  widow,  or  that  her  husband  is  an  inmate  of  a  penal  institution 
or  a  hospital  for  the  insane  or  for  inebriates,  or  is  physically  dis- 
abled, or  has  abandoned  his  family  and  has  been  under  indictment 
for  so  doing  for  one  year ;  that  the  dependency  of  the  child  is  not  duo 
to  the  mother's  fault  or  neglect ;  that  she  is  a  proper  person  to  care 
for  the  child ;  and  that  the  mother  is  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
or  that  she  or  her  husband  has  made  declaration  of  intent  to  become 
a  citizen,  and  has  resided  in  the  State  two  years  and  in  the  county 
one  year.  A  mother  is  not  eligible  if  she  has  personal  property  in 
excess  of  the  value  of  $100,  exclusive  of  specified  exemptions. 

The  care  of  the  feeble-minded. 

In  the  general  State  program  the  needs  of  the  mentally  defective 
have  not  been  ignored.  A  feeble-minded  person  is  subject  to  com- 
pulsory commitment  to  State  guardianship  when  his  own  interests 
and  those  of  the  public  require  it,  and  the  board  of  control  becomes 
responsible  for  the  supervision  or  custodial  care  of  the  patient.  It 
may  make  such  provision  as  may  be  needed,  within  the  limits  of  its 
facilities,  which  in  common  with  those  of  all  States  are  somewhat 
meager.  Some  relief  will  be  afforded,  however,  when  the  new  col- 
onies on  State  land  are  put  into  operation  as  a  supplement  to  the 
present  institution  for  defectives.  The  board  may  also  provide  for 
these  patients  outside  the  institution,  if  such  a  course  seems  advisable 
and  proper  arrangements  can  be  made. 

SOME  OBJECTIONS  TO  A   CENTRALIZED   STATE  PLAN. 

Whether  this  grouping  of  functions  in  a  State  department  is  re- 
garded as  in  conformity  with  the  suggestions  of  the  committee  on 
children  referred  to  above,  will  depend,  of  course,  upon  the  indi- 
vidual point  of  view.  Many  will  find  in  such  a  program  too  much 
centralization  and  too  little  recognition  of  group  diversities  within 
the  State — for  example,  the  various  religious  organizations,  which 
cherish  the  privilege  of  unhindered  welfare  activity  among  their  own 
adherents,  and  which  see  in  the  State  organization  too  little  of  the 
spiritual  approach. 

The  Minnesota  plan  was  not  intended  as  a  limitation  upon 
private  initiative,  of  whatever  character.  Numerous  private  insti- 
tutions for  children  and  private  child-caring  and  child-placing 
agencies  exist,  and  the  number  of  the  latter  is  increasing,  though  not 
rapidly.  However,  Minnesota  law  frankly  accepts  the  principle 
that  the  State,  representing  all  the  people,  has  a  right  through  its 
111532°— 22 3 


2G  COUNTY   OnOANTZATTOlT  TOT   CHILD    CARE. 

licensing  power  to  be  assured  of  the  type  of  care  which  all  children's 
agencies  are  affording  their  wards. 

To  prevent  the  worst  type  of  individual  or  agency  from  exploiting 
the  child,  it  is  necessary  to  give  the  State  power  over  all  agencies, 
the  best  included,  for  law  to  be  constitutional  must  be  uniform  in  its 
application.  The  real  nub  of  the  argument,  probably,  lies  in  the 
manner  in  which  the  licensing  power  of  the  State  is  exercised,  the 
contention  of  some  private  agencies  being  that  such  power  may  result 
in  restriction,  unwarranted  regulation,  and  eventual  control.  This 
danger  must  be  admitted  in  theory,  though  experience  seems  to  show 
that  private  philanthropy  on  the  whole  shapes  its  own  destiny,  and 
that  public  opinion  can  be  relied  upon  to  protect  it  from  undue  State 
interference. 

Public  administration,  in  the  last  analysis,  must  respond  to  the 
thoughts  and  beliefs "  of  the  majority  or  suffer  extinction.  That 
agency  which  has  the  highest  standard  of  service  has  the  least  to  fear 
from  State  interference,  because  of  the  intrinsic  merit  of  the  work  it 
does  and  because  that  merit  is  usually  well  known  to  a  large  group 
who  are  vigorous  in  the  support  of  its  activity. 

In  Minnesota  the  effort  has  been  to  emphasize  the  standards  gen- . 
erally  accepted  as  fundamental  to  child  care,  involving  among  other 
things  the  placing  out  of  children  in  properly  selected  foster  homes, 
balanced  diet,  wholesome  recreation,  regular  medical  inspection,  and 
proper  record  keeping.  No  attempts  have  been  made  to  interfere 
witli  internal  management  or  individual  policy  as  to  methods.  As 
to  standards  of  care,  the  plans  for  the  coming  year  provide  for  a 
committee  on  medical  inspection  to  formulate  a  program,  the  com- 
mittee to  have  a  majority  membership  from  the  boards  of  directors 
of  the  institutions  themselves.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that,  with 
proper  cooperative  effort  on  the  part  of  the  State,  the  child-caring 
institutions  will  eventually  set  for  themselves  a  standard  higher  than 
any  which  the  State  would  dare  to  impose. 

Many  of  the  functions  of  the  State  department  here  outlined  seem 
to  come  within  that  class  of  duties  which  can  fairly  be  regarded 
as  of  settled  technique  and  application,  or  at  least  as  dependent 
in  some  measure  upon  the  exercise  of  compulsion  through  the  police 
power  of  the  State.  This  is  especially  true  of  law  enforcement,  the 
discharge  of  guardianship  for  special  classes  of  committed  children, 
adoption,  and  the  supervision  of  placed-out  children.  The  treat- 
ment of  the  unmarried  mother  and  her  child,  while  it  has  an  element 
of  compulsion  on  the  legal  side  and  presents  a  peculiar  claim  upon 
the  public  conscience,  is  nevertheless  an  experimental  field  where 
private  agencies  can  make  an  increasingly  important  contribution, 
particularly  in  the  matter  of  follow-up  care.  For  the  feeble-minded, 
commitment  to  a  public  agency,  such  as  the  State  board  of  control, 


MINNESOTA.  27 

is  a  necessity  by  reason  of  inadequate  State  institutional  facilities 
and  the  frequent  need  for  the  exercise  of  public  authority  in  super- 
vising such  patients  as  are  not  provided  for  in  institutions. 

The  remainder  of  this  article  will  be  devoted  to  a  consideration 
of  the  extent  to  which  this  broad  centralized  program  of  child  care 
has  been  decentralized  in  its  application  to  the  local  community 
through  the  county  child-welfare  board,  in  accordance  with  the 
principle  of  local  autonomy  and  control. 

THE    COUNTY    CHILD-WELFARE   BOARDS. 

Minnesota  has  86  counties.  At  the  close  of  1921,  69  counties  had 
child-welfare  boards  which  had  been  appointed  by  the  State  board  of 
control  at  the  specific  request  of  the  boards  of  county  commissioners. 
In  its  original  form  the  bill  proposed  by  the  Minnesota  Child- Welfare 
Commission  provided  for  a  board  in  every  county,  but  the  legisla- 
ture amended  the  plan  so  as  to  make  the  organization  voluntary 
with  the  local  authorities.  It  is  a  fair  assumption  that  a  community 
not  sufficiently  interested  to  make  the  request  would  offer  scant 
support  to  a  board  organized  from  without.  It  has  not  been 
necessary  to  stimulate  the  local  communities  in  this  regard,  for 
they  have  already  made  requests  faster  than  the  State  department 
could  meet  the  demand.  The  initiative  has  frequently  been  taken 
by  the  local  membership  of  such  organizations  as  the  National  Fed- 
eration of  Women's  Clubs  and  the  various  chapters  of  the  American 
lied  Cross.  The  movement  attained  considerable  momentum  dur- 
ing the  war  period,  due  to  the  general  stimulus  toward  organization 
at  that  time  and  the  heightened  interest  in  human  values.  It  has 
by  no  means  stopped,  though  the  pace  is  now  somewhat  slower; 
and  the  problem  ahead  is  how  to  sustain  and  further  public  interest 
in  the  work  of  these  boards  as  they  launch  into  their  various  per- 
manent programs.  There  has  been  some  tendency  to  regard  the 
community  job  as  completed  when  the  board  is  organized.  This 
tendency  is  comparable  to  that  which  is  sometimes  apparent  in 
people  who  labor  unceasingly  for  legislation,  but  who  are  far  less 
concerned  about  the* humdrum  routine  of  law  enforcement. 

Personnel. 

The  child-welfare  boards  are  composed  of  from  five  to  seven 
members — the  latter  number  in  the  largest  counties  of  the  State, 
which  contain  the  three  largest  cities.  The  membership  is  partly 
appointive  and  partly  ex  officio.  The  county  superintendent  of 
schools  and  a  member  of  the  board  of  county  commissioners  selected 
by  that  board  serve  by  virtue  of  their  official  position. 

The  whole  subject  of  child  welfare  is  intimately  related  to  the 
school  system,  which  is  an  accurate  reflector  of  the.  conditions  under 


28  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

which  children  are  living  and  which  has  unlimited  possibilities  in  the 
field  of  correction  and  prevention.  Moreover,  the  enforcement  of  the 
compulsory  education  law,  which  is  still  very  imperfect,  is  one  of  the 
chief  problems  of  child  welfare  in  any  community.  Medical  inspec- 
tion in  the  schools,  supplementing  diet,  recreation,  the  development 
of  special  classes  for  the  physically  and  mentally  handicapped — 
these  are  all  a  vital  part  of  a  well-organized  child-welfare  program 
and  relate  naturally  and  logically  to  the  work  of  a  child- welfare  board. 
It  is  for  these  reasons  that  the  county  superintendent  of  schools  is 
an  ex  officio  member.  As  a  rule,  the  county  superintendent  is  asked 
to  serve  upon  every  county  organization  having  even  a  remote  bear- 
ing on  education  or  educational  problems,  and  he  is  often  overbur- 
dened. For  this  reason,  or  occasionally  because  of  embarrassment 
which  may  result  from  the  handling  of  cases  coming  to  the  attention 
of  the  board,  a  few  superintendents  have  objected  to  serving.  Usu- 
ally, however,  these  officials  are  efficient  members  of  the  boards,  and 
in  many  cases  they  are  leading  spirits ;  and  as  the  boards  are  not  with- 
out value  to  the  superintendents  in  the  solution  of  their  educational 
problems,  the  relationship  is  one  of  mutual  profit. 

The  board  of  county  commissioners  has  general  charge  of  the  ad- 
ministration of  county  affairs.  It  administers  the  poor-relief  fund 
and  the  county  institutions  for  the  sick,  the  aged,  and  the  indigent. 
This  board  has  controlled  to  some  extent  the  administration  of  the 
county  allowance  law,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  it  appropriates  the 
money  for  that  purpose.  The  recommendations  of  its  members  as 
to  the  granting  of  the  allowance  in  individual  cases  have  frequently 
had  weight  with  the  juvenile-court  judge.  Again,  the  commissioners 
are  called  upon  to  appropriate  money  for  the  expenses  of  the  child- 
welfare  board,  and  their  contact  with  the  board  through  official  rep- 
resentation gives  opportunity  for  education  as  to  the  needs  of  its 
work.  The  commissioners,  with  a  few  splendid  exceptions,  have  been 
slow  to  grasp  the  importance  of  the  work  of  the  county  child-welfare 
boards  and  have  not  shown  that  interest  which  it  is  hoped  may 
develop  as  the  efficiency  and  prestige  of  the  boards  grow.  It  may  be 
added  that  the  solution  of  this  problem  is  within  the  power  of  the 
local  boards  themselves. 

In  addition  to  the  two  ex  officio  members,  three  (or  five)  persons 
are  appointed  annually  by  the  State  board  of  control,  and  of  these 
at  least  two  must  be  women.  In  making  these  appointments  it  has 
been  the  policy  of  the  State  office  to  consult  the  local  public  officials 
and  others  interested  in  the  wTork  of  the  board.  By  reason  of  the 
close  contact  which  should  exist  between  the  board  and  the  juvenile 
court  judge,  his  wishes  and  opinion  are  of  especial  importance,  as  are 
those  of  the  county  attorney  and  the  members  of  the  board  of  county 


MINNESOTA.  29 

commissioners,  who  frequently  make  recommendations  as  to  mem- 
bership in  the  resolution  which  asks  for  the  organization  of  the  wel- 
fare group.  In  the  appointment  of  members  an  effort  has  been  made 
to  have  various  parts  of  the  county  represented,  though  in  some  in- 
stances the  membership  has  been  selected  from  or  near  the  county 
seat.  When  the  members  come  from  remote  parts  of  the  county, 
some  difficulty  has  been  experienced  in  securing  regular  attendance 
at  board  meetings.  Train  service  is  not  always  convenient,  and  this 
means  considerable  loss  of  time  in  going  to  and  from  the  place  of 
meeting — which  is  nearly  always  the  county  seat,  for  the  reason  that 
the  county  superintendent  of  schools  has  his  office  there,  and  the 
county  commissioners  convene  at  the  same  place.  The  question  of 
expense  for  railroad  fare,  and  for  hotel  accommodations  when  it  be- 
comes necessary  to  stay  overnight,  also,  is  involved.  The  obviously 
ideal  arrangement,  which  has  seldom  been  possible,  is  to  select  the 
membership  from  within  a  convenient  radius  of  the  county  seat. 

Among  the  appointive  members  of  the  child-welfare  boards  are  a 
total  of  45  men  on  68  boards.  In  every  case  the  county  commissioner 
is  a  man,  and  in  35  counties  men  hold  the  office  of  county  superin- 
tendent of  schools.  About  43  per  cent  of  the  total  membership  of 
the  boards  is  male,  though  in  most  cases  the  principal  burden  of  the 
work  is  borne  by  the  women.  It  is  important  that  the  movement 
should  not  be  regarded  as  exclusively  of  interest  to  women,  for  the 
obligation  rests  upon  the  community  as  a  whole  and  should  be  shared 
by  all.  The  drawing  of  the  sex  line  in  matters  of  social  welfare  leads 
almost  inevitably  to  a  sentimental  conception  of  the  task  in  hand, 
which  is  fatal  to  sound  development. 

Qualifications  for  board  membership  are  not  specified,  nor  should 
they  be.  Interest  and  activity  in  social  and  civic  problems,  a  desire 
to  share  in  the  community  life,  and  a  willingness  to  undertake  the 
duties  of  the  child-welfare  board,  are  of  course  essential.  Every 
community  has  a  few  public-spirited  citizens  who  are  usually  asked 
to  serve  upon  the  various  boards  and  committees  which  the  com- 
munity sustains.  It  is,  therefore,  inevitable  that  such  private  or 
semipublic  organizations  as  the  American  Red  Cross  chapters  and 
the  county  public-health  associations  should  be  fruitful  sources  of 
membership  for  county  child-welfare  boards,  and  this  interlocking 
directorate  ought  to  make  for  cooperative  effort  within  the  com- 
munity. But  effective  results  in  that  line  have  not  been  achieved 
have  in  those  counties  where  plans  have  consciously  been  made  to 
secure  it.    Cooperation  does  not  "  just  grow ;  "  it  must  be  nurtured. 

Organization. 

The  boards  organize  by  electing  a  chairman  and  secretary,  and 
an  effort  is  made  to  carry  on  all  the  board's  correspondence  through 


30  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOH   CHILD   CARE. 

the  secretary  (except  where  the  board  has  an  executive  agent), 
in  order  that  he  may  have  ;i  complete  file  of  all  matters  coming  to 
the  board's  attention.  This  plan  is  not  without  its  difficulties, 
because  it  would  often  be  a  saving  of  time  for  the  State  office,  for 
instance,  to  write  directly  to  the  member  of  the  board  who  lives 
nearest  the  case  needing  attention.  Reference  through  the  secre- 
tary and  report  back  through  the  same  source  sometimes  delay 
matters  for  a  considerable  period ;  but  any  other  plan  too  often 
means  that  no  official  record  is  kept  by  the  local  board,  because 
the  secretary  is  not  advised  of  the  correspondence. 

It  has  been  exceedingly  difficult  to  impress  upon  the  boards  the 
need  for  carefully  kept  records  of  all  cases  and  other  matters  com- 
ing to  their  attention.  Not  only  should  correspondence  be  carefully 
preserved,  but  all  the  steps  in  the  treatment  of  the  case  should  be 
noted  on  the  file.  A  public  group  can  not  afford  to  be  placed  in 
the  position  of  not  knowing  what  has  taken  place  in  the  cases  within 
its  jurisdiction.  This  is  particularly  true  where  subsequent  court 
action  is  involved,  and  the  record  is  put  in  evidence.  It  is  equally 
important  to  orderly  progress  that  full  minutes  should  be  kept 
of  the  board's  transactions,  just  as  the  proceedings  of  any  public 
body  should  be  available  for  the  information  of  those  who  are  en- 
titled to  it.  As  a  matter  of  business  policy  and  for  the  convenience 
of  the  board  itself  a  proper  record  in  this  regard  is  essential. 

The  boards  are  urged  to  meet  at  least  once  a  month  for  considera- 
tion of  their  problems.  Some  of  the  boards,  especially  those  which 
are  most  inactive,  meet  only  upon  the  call  of  the  chairman;  others 
find  meeting  more  than  once  a  month  a  necessity;  and  in  the  case 
of  the  boards  in  the  larger  communities  a  part  of  the  work  is  done 
through  permanent  committees,  such  as  those  on  adoption  and  the 
unmarried  mother. 

Financing. 

The  county  treasury  is  the  source  of  funds  for  the  child-welfare 
board,  and  the  county  commissioners  are  authorized  by  law  to 
defray  the  "traveling  and  other  necessary  expense  of  the  several 
members  of  the  child-welfare  board  while  acting  officially  as  mem- 
bers of  such  boards,  and  of  the  executive  agents  while  exclusively 
employed  in  the  business  of  the  board."  "  Necessary  expense  "  is 
construed  to  cover  that  of  attendance  at  meetings  and  the  investi- 
gation of  cases.  The  board  members  do  not  receive  compensation. 
The  salaries  of  executive  agents  must  be  approved  by  the  com- 
missioners. 

There  is  considerable  diversity  in  the  manner  of  providing  funds 
for  the  use  of  the  boards  and  in  the  sources  of  these  funds.  In 
some  cases  (when  no  executive  agent  is  employed)  the  bills  as  they 


MINNESOTA.  31 

are  incurred  are  submitted  for  monthly  audit  and  approval.  In 
others,  and  particularly  in  the  large  counties,  a  yearly  budget  is 
agreed  upon  in  advance,  with  the  various  items  of  the  budget  speci- 
fied. The  yearly  budget  plan  has  proved  to  be  the  most  satisfactory, 
and  it  is  clearly  a  more  dignified  and  effective  arrangement.  In  a 
few  counties  the  American  Red  Cross  pays  the  salary  of  an  executive 
agent,  who  is  the  joint  representative  of  that  organization  and  the 
child-welfare  board.  In  one  county  the  salary  is  paid  jointly  by  the 
county  and  the  American  Red  Cross.  Still  another  plan,  adopted  in 
a  few  counties,  is  to  utilize  the  services  of  the  county  nurse,  giving 
her  the  title  of  executive  agent  for  the  board. 

So  far  as  financing  is  concerned,  the  State  plays  no  part.  It  is 
worth  considering  whether,  in  view  of  the  functions  and  character 
of  these  boards,  the  State  should  not  contribute  to  their  maintenance ; 
and  the  county  commissioners  might  well  ask  that  the  State  office 
approve  all  expenses  or  budgets,  as  a  matter  of  local  protection. 
Such  a  plan  would  tend  to  eliminate  unlawful  expenditure,  which 
sometimes  occurs,  and  would  afford  a  means  for  standardizing 
budgets  through  "comparative  study — although  this  latter  result 
might  be  achieved  in  part  under  the  present  plan.  Certain  it  is  that 
more  careful  study  must  be  given  in  the  future  to  the  subject  of 
financing  the  county  boards.  Outside  perhaps  a  dozen  of  the  Min- 
nesota counties  there  is  little  plan  or  purpose  on  the  financial  side. 

THE  NEED  FOR  TRAINED   SERVICE. 

Enough  has  been  said  herein  to  indicate  the  breadth  and  the  scope 
of  local  administration  in  child-welfare  work.  It  remains  to  be  con- 
sidered how  the  most  effective  results  can  be  obtained  in  the  carry- 
ing out  of  so  comprehensive,  and  at  the  same  time  so  technical,  a 
program.  For  the  problems  faced  by  the  local  boards  are  fre- 
quently of  a  character  which  would  tax  the  patience,  ingenuity,  and 
capacity  of  the  most  skilled  social  worker. 

The  treatment  of  child  problems  involves  (to  use  a  medical  term) 
diagnosis  rather  than  investigation.  The  social  worker  strives  to 
seek  out  all  the  facts  and  to  prescribe  a  remedial  course  of  action 
based  on  full  knowledge.  She  wants  to  know  the  history  of  the 
family,  in  order  to  determine  whether  there  is  material  upon  which 
to  build  so  that  the  child  may  remain  in  his  own  home  and  with  his 
own  parents  instead  of  being  placed  in  the  unnatural  environment  of 
the  institution.  Such  a  basic  process  as  the  verification  of  the  mar- 
riage of  the  child's  parents  may  lead  to  information  which  will 
change  the  whole  course  of  treatment.  If  the  parents  are  divorced, 
accurate  knowledge  of  that  fact  and  of  the  time  and  place  may  result 
in  securing  alimony  for  the  support  of  the  children.    The  death  of 


32  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOB    CHILD    CARE. 

the  father  or  his  desertion,  if  the  facts  are  fully  known,  may  lead 
to  the  granting  of  a  county  allowance  for  the  mother.  Frequently 
an  analysis  of  the  family  budget  will  disclose  ways  in  which  the 
income  can  be  increased  or  more  wisely  used.  An  undernourished 
child  may  be  restored  to  full  capacity.  By  securing  proper  medical 
examination  and  such  treatment  as  the  needs  of  the  child  may  make 
necessary,  possible  delinquency  may  be  checked  and  a  laggard  in 
school  transformed  into  a  normal  pupil. 

Much  is  said  in  these  days  of  the  value  of  recreation ;  if  the  child's 
family  does  not  appreciate  the  value  of  play,  and  if  the  community 
offers  no  opportunity  for  it,  someone  must  undertake  the  job  of  read- 
justing the  conditions. 

The  mental  condition  of  the  unmarried  mother  is  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance in  solving  her  problem,  and  it  should  be  known  as  well  as 
her  age  and  place  of  residence.  All  are  basic  facts  of  primary  con- 
cern to  the  treatment  of  the  case.  Again,  full  knowledge  will  pre- 
vent unwise  marriage  between  the  parents  of  children  born,  or  to  be 
born,  out  of  wedlock,  where  a  criminal  record  or  a  history  of  syphilis, 
for  example,  makes  such  a  marriage  an  almost  certain  failure  from 
the  start. 

The  method  of  gathering  facts  in  children's  cases  emphasizes  the 
need  for  training  and  experience.  In  the  large  cities  the  multiplica- 
tion of  social  agencies  makes  an  interchange  of  information  between 
them  imperative  where  two  or  more  agencies  are  dealing,  or  have 
dealt,  with  the  same  case.  Such  exchange  of  facts  results  in  saving 
time,  in  avoiding  duplication,  and  in  more  intelligent  case  treatment, 
because  more  facts  are  available.  Even  in  the  small  town  a  single 
child  or  his  family  may  be  known  to  the  school  nurse,  the  county 
commissioners,  church  organizations,  the  county  agent,  and  the 
county  child- welfare  board.  Each  may  be  ignorant  of  what  the 
other  knows  about  the  case  and  may  work  blindly  as  a  result.  The 
proper  use  of  all  available  sources  of  information  is  an  art  which 
is  acquired  by  training  and  experience  alone.  The  doctor,  the  hos- 
pital, the  dispensary,  the  clinic,  the  school  nurse  may  each  have  facts 
which,  if  known,  will  mean  the  difference  between  success  and  failure 
in  case  treatment. 

Too  often  in  children's  work,  as  distinguished  from  family  case 
work,  the  relatives  and  the  neighbors  are  overlooked,  yet  they  may 
have  a  fund  of  information  useful  in  itself  or  as  giving  clues  to 
further  facts.  To  approach  relatives  with  tact  and  sympathy,  to  be 
able  to  distinguish  between  neighborhood  gossip  of  a  malicious  or 
biased  character  and  the  true  situation,  is  a  difficult  and  delicate  job. 
One  should  know  what  information  to  seek,  wdiat  method  to  use  in  ob- 
taining it,  how  to  correlate  all  the  facts  obtained  and  apply  the  sum 
total  to  a  successful  solution  of  the  problem ;  and  how  to  do  all  this 


MINNESOTA.  33 

tactfully  and  with  the  cooperation  of  all  concerned.  Perhaps  this 
ideal  is  seldom  attained  even  by  a  trained  worker. 

In  theory,  the  board  should  be  a  policy-making  group,  directing 
and  supervising  the  work  of  its  trained  agents,  educating  the  com- 
munity as  to  methods,  and  dealing  with  fundamental  improvements 
in  community  life  as  the  need  is  shown  through  the  cases  actually 
handled.  Persons  of  experience  and  training  in  social  work  should 
be  employed  to  do  the  active  case  work,  and  they  should  be  the  tech- 
nical advisers  of  the  boards.  But,  as  was  anticipated  from  the  in- 
ception of  the  program,  public  opinion  moves  slowly  in  eh  mat- 
ters, and  a  trained  social  worker  in  every  county^  is  a  hope  rather 
than  a  reality.  The  board  members  for  the  most  part  have  under- 
taken to  do  the  board's  work  themselves,  and  they  have  been  serving 
with  unusual  fidelity  and  with  marked  success.  They  may  well  be 
compared  to  the  friendly  visitors  of  the  average  charity  organiza- 
tion society,  giving  freely  of  their  time  and  service,  with  the  State 
office  striving  to  supply  instruction,  assistance,  and  supervision. 
This  situation  has  not  been  without  its  incidental  benefits,  for  it 
has  brought  home  to  the  board  members  a  sense  of  the  reality  and 
extent  of  their  problem,  as  only  actual  contact  with  cases  can  do,  and, 
more  than  this,  has  demonstrated,  the  need  for  an  experienced  full- 
time  worker. 

Each  of  the  two  largest  counties  of  the  State,  Hennepin  and  Ram- 
sey, whose  annual  budgets  are  in  the  neighborhood  of  $12,900  (an  ad- 
ditional $12,500  is  allowed  for  the  maintenance  of  the  county  nurs- 
ing staff)  and  $11,500,  respectively,  has  a  staff  of  workers  numbering 
about  five.  St.  Louis  County,  the  third  in  size,  has  three  full-time 
agents  with  a  budget  of  approximately  $5,000.  Seventeen  other 
counties  have  either  part  or  full-time  service  of  various  types  and 
under  various  financial  arrangements.  In  some  instances  a  member 
of  the  board  with  special  qualifications  has  been  appointed  execu- 
tive agent  on  part  or  full  time.  In  7  counties  the  local  chapter 
of  the  American  Red  Cross  has  generously  placed  its  executive  at 
the  disposal  of  the  welfare  board,  the  county  in  some  cases  con- 
tributing toward  his  salary  and  expenses. 

In  five  counties  in  addition  to  the  three  largest  already  men- 
tioned the  county  bears  the  full  expense,  and  the  executive's  full 
time  is  devoted  to  the  welfare  board.  In  other  counties  the  county 
nurse  has  rendered  special  service  from  time  to  time:  but  this  ar- 
rangement raises  several  questions  of  policy:  For  instance,  whether 
the  extent  of  social  training  possessed  by  the  nurse  is  sufficient  for 
these  other  duties,  and  to  what  lengths  she  can  devote,  herself  to  them 
without  jeopardizing  the  success  of  her  nursing  work:  in  its  favor  is 
the  argument  of  economy  in  expense  and  the  elimination  of  duplica- 


34  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

tion  of  traveling  expenses  and  visitation  of  families.  On  the  whole 
the  effort  should  be  made  to  divorce  the  two  types  of  effort,  because 
of  the  large  amount  of  work  to  be  done  and  the  dissimilarity  in  the 
training  required. 

One  of  the  chief  difficulties  has  been  to  find  agents  of  maturity  and 
experience  in  social  work  who  have  knowledge  of  the  rural  problem 
and  point  of  view  and  who  would  stay  in  one  place  long  enough  to 
do  a  constructive  piece  of  work.  It  is  indeed  the  rare  person  who 
will  consecrate  herself  to  the  comparative  isolation  of  rural  life, 
particularly  when  she  is  not  working  in  her  home  community  and 
does  not  foresee  compensating  financial  rewards.  Salaries  average 
from  $125  to  $150  per  month. 

The  Training  School  for  Social  Work  of  the  University  of  Minne- 
sota is  seeking  to  meet  the  problem  by  offering  instruction  in  child- 
welfare  work  to  its  students,  many  of  whom  come  from  small  com- 
munities, to  which  they  may  return  and  labor  with  contentment  and 
with  understanding  of  the  point  of  view  and  particular  problems  of 
the  small  town  and  open  country.  These  qualifications  may  in  part 
overcome  the  handicap  of  youth  and  comparative  inexperience. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  welfare  board  there  is  a  danger,  which 
has  already  appeared,  that  the  employment  of  an  agent  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  occasion  for  shifting  the  entire  burden,  thus  leaving 
the  board  itself  practically  inactive.  Nothing  could  be  more  dam- 
aging to  the  program  in  the  long  run,  and  a  wise  executive  will  re- 
quire a  full  quota  of  interest  and  assumption  of  responsibility  by 
her  board.  It  is  one  of  her  most  important  duties  to  hold  regular 
meetings  of  the  board,  secure  full  attendance,  submit  reviews  of  all 
cases  which  are  ready  for  final  decision  by  the  board,  and  require 
the  board  to  pass  judgment  upon  questions  of  policy  and  in  regard 
to  important  steps  in  the  treatment  of  cases — court  action,  for  in- 
stance, should  that  appear  to  be  necessary.  There  is  a  tendency,  in 
the  desire  of  the  executive  to  get  results  without  delay,  to  forget  that 
the  board  has  the  ultimate  authority  and  responsibility  in  these  mat- 
ters, and,  incidentally,  that  it  is  frequently  in  need  of  education. 

DUTIES    OF    LOCAL   BOARDS   IN    RELATION    TO    STATE   DEPART- 
MENTS. 

The  law  provides  that  the  county  child- welfare  board  "  shall  per- 
form such  duties  as  may  be  required  of  it  by  the  said  board  of  con- 
trol."0 The  general  duties  of  the  State  board  have  already  been 
outlined.  The  duties  of  the  local  board  are  for  the  most  part  dele- 
gated, though,  as  will  hereafter  appear,  this  is  not  always  the  case. 

6  Minn.  Laws  1017,  c-h.   194,  sec.  4. 


MINNESOTA.  35 

The  guiding  principle  in  the  Minnesota  plan  has  been  that  of  cen- 
tralization of  responsibility  in  the  State  board  of  control  and  de- 
centralization of  administration  through  the  county  child-welfare 
boards.  The  children's  bureau  of  the  State  board  of  control  is  or- 
ganized to  accomplish  that  purpose  in  the  following  manner : 
A  director  in  general  charge. 
A  case  supervisor  in  charge  of  case  work. 

Five  field  representatives,  each  of  whom  has  a  district  including 
from  15  to  20  counties,  which  she  visits  for  advice  and  consul- 
tation. 
A  department  for  the  feeble-minded. 

A  department  for  the  licensing  and  supervision  of  maternity 
hospitals  and  children's  institutions. 
The  precise  relationship  between  the  State  board  and  the  county 
group,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  cooperate,  may  be  shown  best 
through  a  description  of  the  procedure  in  various  types  of  cases. 

Adoption  proceedings. 

When  an  adoption  petition  is  filed  with  the  clerk  of  the  district 
court  which  has  jurisdiction,  a  copy  is  sent  to  the  children's  bureau 
of  the  State  board  of  control.  The  case  supervisor  immediately  refers 
the  petition  to  the  secretary  of  the  child  welfare  board  in  the  county 
where  the  petitioners  reside,  which  in  each  case  is  the  county  where 
the  petition  was  originally  filed.  With  the  petition  is  sent  a  general 
letter  of  instruction  bearing  on  the  procedure  and  manner  of  inves- 
tigation, and  a  standard  form  upon  whicli  to  record  the  necessary 
information  concerning  the  proposed  foster  parents,  their  home,  and 
the  history  of  the  child.  The  secretary  of  the  local  board,  if  there 
is  no  full-time  executive  secretary,  refers  the  matter  to  that  member 
of  the  board  living  nearest  to  the  petitioners,  who  makes  a  personal 
investigation  and  reports  back  to  the  secretary.  The  matter  is  then 
taken  up  by  the  local  board  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  recommenda- 
tion either  for  or  against  the  petition;  the  recommendation,  with  the 
information  blank  properly  filled  out,  is  forwarded  to  the  children's 
bureau.  The  case  supervisor  then  goes  over  the  report  to  determine 
whether  the  investigation  has  been  carefully  and  thoroughly  made 
and  whether  the  facts  disclosed  support  the  recommendation.  A 
formal  recommendation,  with  a  detailed  report,  is  then  sent  by  the 
State  office  to  the  court  from  which  the  petition  was  forwarded,  unless 
further  information  or  investigation  is  desired  of  the  local  board. 
In  the  latter  event  further  inquiry  is  made  by  letter  from  the  case 
supervisor  or  by  personal  contact  between  the  field  representative  ami 
the  county  board.  Through  this  contact  the  effort  is  made  to  keep  the 
county  board  organization  active  and  functioning  and  to  establish 
the  best  possible  standards  of  investigation  and  case  work. 


36  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR  CHILD   CARE. 

If  the  petition  is  forwarded  from  ;i  county  where  no  child-welfare 
hoard  exists  the  investigation  is  made  directly  by  the  field  repre- 
sentative, unless  there  is  a  suitable  correspondent  in  the  community. 
A  decision  in  these  matters  made  by  the  local  board  is  rarely  over- 
turned by  the  State  office,  for  the  reason  that  the  investigation  made 
in  the  community  by  those  living  there,  if  conducted  in  a  proper 
manner,  ought  to  be  a  more  satisfactory  basis  of  decision  than  any 
other.  Moreover,  the  placing  of  full  responsibility  upon  the  welfare 
board  is  conducive  to  better  work  and  a  broader  conception  of  duty. 
The  exercise  of  judgment  and  discretion  and  a  share  in  the  final 
decision  transform  the  local  board  from  a  mere  agent  of  the  State 
office  to  a  group  having  not  only  responsibility,  but  power  as  well. 
The  emphasis  of  the  State  office  is  laid  upon  proper  method  and 
technique  in  securing  the  necessary  information. 

In  the  case  of  legal  adoption  the  power  of  the  State  board  of  con- 
trol is  merely  to  recommend  to  the  court  a  proper  disposition,  the 
court  then  determining  what  action  shall  be  taken.  If  the  adoption 
is  granted  in  the  face  of  an  adverse  recommendation,  the  matter  is 
closed.  If  the  adoption  is  denied  the  child  can  be  taken  from  the 
petitioners  without  their  consent  or  that  of  the  guardian  of  the  child 
if  there  is  one,  only  upon  proof  in  juvenile  court  of  dependency, 
delinquency,  or  neglect. 

It  should  be  noted  here  that  facts  which  might  lead  an  adminis- 
trative body  to  disapprove  an  adoption  may  not  be  regarded  by  a 
juvenile  court  judge  as  legally  sufficient  to  justify  the  removal  of 
the  child  upon  the  grounds  just  mentioned.  Consequently,  in  some 
cases  the  State  board  of  control  has  disapproved  of  adoptions  and 
has  at  the  same  time  been  powerless  to  remove  the  child  from  the 
home.  In  some  cases  a  final  disapproval  is  not  recommended,  but  a 
request  is  made  for  a  continuance  of  the  matter  for  a  stated  period 
pending  possible  improvement  of  conditions. 

Placed-out  children. 

In  the  case  of  children  placed  out  for  permanent  care  in  foster 
homes  (which  frequently  results  in  adoption)  the  procedure  is  the 
same,  save  that  the  agency  which  places  the  child  makes  a  full  pre- 
liminary investigation,  which  is  forwarded  to  the  children's  bureau 
of  the  State  board  of  control  when  the  report  of  the  placement  is 
made,  as  required  by  law. 

In  the  case  of  a  placed-out  child  the  placing  agency,  which  is 
always  licensed  by  the  State  board  of  control,  usually  has  guardian- 
ship  of  the  child,  and  upon  disapproval  of  the  placement  the  board 
has  authority  to  order  the  removal  of  the  child  by  the  organization 
which  placed  him, 


MINNESOTA.  37 

The  child  born  out  of  wedlock. 

In  the  treatment  of  the  problem  of  the  child  born  out  of  wedlock 
and  his  mother,  the  procedure  is  not  so  simple  and  clear  cut.  The 
cases  are  usually  reported  to  the  State  office  in  one  of  three  ways: 
(1)  Every  hospital  in  which  a  child  is  born  out  of  wedlock  must 
report  such  birth  to  the  State  board  of  control  (many  illegitimate 
births  do  not  occur  in  hospitals,  and  some  are  not  reported  accurately 
as  illegitimate  by  the  hospitals  themselves)  ;  (2)  the  county  attorney 
who  prosecutes  the  proceedings  to  establish  paternity,  or  the  judge 
by  whom  the  case  is  heard,  may  report  the  matter  to  the  State  board 
of  control;  (3)  the  case  may  be  reported  by  the  physician,  a  friend, 
a  relative,  or  other  interested  person  or  agency.  In  some  instances 
the  case  may  originally  be  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  county  child- 
welfare  board  and  reported  by  it  to  the  State  office.  In  any  event 
the  local  board  in  the  county  from  which  the  report  or  inquiry  comes 
is  charged  with  the  initial  responsibility,  whether  the  matter  comes 
to  its  attention  originally  or  is  referred  by  the  State  office. 

If  the  child  is  yet  unborn,  the  mother  is  visited  by  a  board  member 
or  agent  and  advised  as  to  her  rights  and  duties ;  plans  are  made  for 
proper  confinement  care,  the  identity  of  the  father  of  the  child  is 
ascertained,  if  possible,  and  steps  are  taken  to  establish  paternal  re- 
sponsibility either  through  agreement  or  through  court  action,  with 
the  cooperation  of  the  county  attorney  who  prosecutes  such  cases. 

In  a  very  considerable  number  of  cases  the  unmarried  mother  comes 
to  one  of  the  large  cities  to  be  confined  in  one  of  the  specialized  ma- 
ternity hospitals,  where  she  may  have  seclusion  before  the  birth  of 
the  child  and  during  a  nursing  period  consisting  usually  of  three 
months.  In  such  a  case  the  welfare  board  of  the  county  where  the 
child  is  born  has  original  jurisdiction,  but  cooperates  with  the  board 
in  the  county  of  the  mother's  residence,  which  in  most  instances  i9 
the  residence  of  the  father  of  the  child.  Full  jurisdiction  may  be 
transferred  eventually  to  the  latter  county,  where  the  matter  of 
paternity  must  usually  be  settled  and  where  the  follow-up  care  for 
mother  and  child  must  be  worked  out  if  they  return  to  the  mother's 
place  of  residence.  The  disposition  of  the  case  is  largely  in  the 
hands  of  the  local  board,  subject  to  the  approval  and  the  general 
supervision  of  the  State  office,  which  makes  suggestions  as  to  pro- 
cedure in  the  working  out  of  general  policies  of  care  and  treatment 
and  the  establishment  of  proper  cooperation  between  the  various 
boards  concerned. 

If  financial  support  is  obtained  it  is  generally  administered 
through  the  local  board,  which  visits  the  mother  from  time  to  time 
to  determine  whether  the  money  is  being  used  properly  and  the  child 
is  receiving  good  care.    If  the  mother  desires  to  keep  the  child  with 

4  9  6  64 


38  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOB    CHILD   CARE. 

her  or  (o  board  him  out,  though  still  retaining  her  eight  to  custody, 
she  is  helped  to  do  so.  Assistance  is  given  her  in  making  such  plans 
by  reestablishing  her  contact  with  her  home  if  she  is  to  return  to  it, 
or  by  finding  employment  for  her  and  a  suitable  boarding  place  for 
the  baby  if  that  is  desired.  If  it  appears  that  the  mother  is  unwill- 
ing or  unable  to  care  for  the  child,  or  if  his  best  interest  will  not 
be  conserved  by  his  remaining  in  her  custody,  the  plan  is  to  have 
the  child  committed  to  a  suitable  child-placing  agency  through  a 
juvenile-court  proceeding.  In  any  event  the  direct  and  immediate 
contact  is  between  the  mother  and  child  and  the  county  child-welfare 
board. 

When  legal  proceedings  are  undertaken  the  county  hoard  acts  as 
next  friend  to  the  mother  by  aiding  her  in  presenting  her  case  to  the 
prosecuting  officer  (the  county  attorney)  and  by  having  a  representa- 
tive in  court  during  the  trial  of  the  case.  The  law  provides  for 
notification  to  the  State  board  of  control  when  the  paternity  of  the 
child  has  been  established  and  the  matter  of  determining  the  settle- 
ment is  to  be  considered.  The  local  board  is  then  requested  by  the 
State  office  to  act  as  its  agent  and  to  appear  and  advise  the  court 
fully  concerning  the  social  facts  of  the  case  and  the  financial  ability 
of  the  man.  A  recommendation  is  usually  made  as  to  the  amount 
to  be  paid  by  him;  but  in  all  adjudicated  cases  the  ultimate  power 
to  fix  the  amount,  either  in  lump  sum  or  in  monthly  payments,  is 
vested  in  the  court.  The  court  may  designate  the  State  board  of 
control  or  the  county  child-welfare  board  as  the  recipient  and  trustee 
of  whatever  money  payments  are  required  of  the  man.  In  either 
case  the  fund  is  disbursed  under  the  immediate  direction  of  the  local 
board.  If  the  case  is  one  in  which  the  settlement  is  to  be  without  a 
legal  adjudication  of  paternity,  but  by  voluntary  acknowledgment 
of  the  man  and  payment  of  a  lump  sum  in  discharge  of  the  obliga- 
tion, the  law  authorizes  the  State  board  of  control  to  fix  the  settle- 
ment subject  to  the  approval  of  the  court.  Here  again  the  settle- 
ment is  usually  based  upon  the  investigations  and  recommendations 
of  the  local  board,  and  the  funds  may  be  held  by  that  board  as  trustee 
for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  child. 

Here,  as  in  the  case  of  the  adoption  and  placement  of  children,  the 
local  board  is  required  to  keep  a  full  record  of  its  treatment  of  the 
problem  and  to  submit  its  reports  to  the  State  office  for  advice  and 
suggestion  or  ultimate  decision.  There  is  an  obvious  difficulty  in 
this  procedure,  namely,  that  the  mother  may  object  to  a  number  of 
persons  being  informed  of  her  plight,  especially  those  living  in  her 
own  community.  As  a  safeguard,  the  board  members  have  repeat- 
edly been  pledged  to  regard  such  matters  as  of  a  confidential  char- 
acter, not  to  be  disclosed  except  to  the  proper  persons  or  officials. 


MINNESOTA.  39 

The  danger  of  disclosure  is  now  fairly  well  avoided,  though  not 
entirely  so.  It  is  interesting  to  observe,  however,  that  in  most  cases 
the  community  is  already  aware  of  the  situation  which  the  mother 
believes  unknown.  If  she  has  been  at  all  loose  in  her  action,  this, 
combined  with  her  prolonged  absence  from  home  is  sufficient  cause 
for  gossip.  The  object  of  the  board  is  to  aid  and  protect  the  mother 
and  her  child  and  to  safeguard  both  from  the  malice  of  the  com- 
munity, and  this  responsibility  is  being  met  for  the  most  part. 
Certainly  no  type  of  case  emphasizes  the  need  for  trained  social 
workers  in  the  field  of  child  welfare  with  greater  force  than 
does  that  of  the  unmarried  mother  and  her  child,  in  spite  of  the 
loyal  and  devoted  service  which  board  members  have  rendered  in 
this  connection. 

The  feeble-minded. 

In  the  care  and  treatment  of  the  feeble-minded,  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  county  child-welfare  board  to  see  that  cases  needing  public 
guardianship  are  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  probate  judge  of 
the  county,  who  has  jurisdiction  to  determine  the  existence  of  mental 
defect  and  to  commit  to  the  State  board  of  control.  The  Minne- 
sota definition  of  a  feeble-minded  person  is  "  any  person,  minor  or 
adult,  other  than  an  insane  person,  who  is  so  mentally  defective  as 
to  be  incapable,  of  managing  himself  and  his  affairs,  and  to  require 
supervision,  control,  and  care  for  his  own  or  the  public  welfare." 

The  gathering  of  all  the  social  facts  involving  family  history  and 
conduct  is  an  administrative  job  and  one  which  requires  patient 
social  investigation.  If  commitment  is  determined  upon,  three 
courses  are  open,  the  choice  among  which  will  be  determined  by  the 
facts  of  the  individual  case:  (1)  The  patient  may  be  sent  to  a  State 
institution;  or  (2)  be  taken  from  his  present  environment  and  placed 
in  a  new  one;  or  (3)  be  left  in  his  present  surroundings  but  with 
supervision.  In  the  two  latter  cases  the  county  child-welfare  board 
in  cooperation  with  the  State  office  can  render  and  has  rendered 
valuable  service — in  addition  to  that  of  preparing  the  case  for  hear- 
ing before  the  probate  judge  for  commitment — by  rinding  relatives, 
friends,  or  interested  persons  willing  to  take  the  patient,  and  by 
visiting  the  homes  where  patients  are  living,  in  order  to  assist  in 
affording  them  protection  from  exploitation  and  in  making  neces- 
sary adjustments  as  problems  arise  within  the  family  group  or  in 
the  community. 

The  reports  of  the  local  board  in  these  cases  are  sent  to  the  Stale 
office  and  are  reviewed  by  the  supervisor  of  the  department  for 
the  feeble-minded.  The  duty  of  the  State  office  here  is  similar  to 
that  with  reference  to  unmarried  mothers. 


40  COUNTY    ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

OTHER   ACTIVITIES    OF   COUNTY   BOARDS. 

Local  administration  of  county  allowances. 

Thus  far  have  been  considered  the  duties  of  the  county  child- 
welfare  board  which  are  for  the  most  part  delegated  by  the  State 
board  of  control,  in  which  the  ultimate  responsibility  is  vested. 
Other  responsibilities  of  a  more  direct  nature  rest  upon  the  local 
board.  The  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  may,  at  his  discretion,  call 
upon  the  board  for  investigation  of  applications  for  county  allow- 
ances (mothers'  pensions)  and  for  follow-up  supervision  when  the 
allowances  are  granted.  Whether  a  mother  is  eligible  for  help  can 
be  safely  determined  only  after  careful  inquiry,  which  a  court  pro- 
ceeding alone  does  not  permit.  When  the  assistance  is  given,  there 
is  need  for  wise  counsel  in  household  problems  and  friendly  advice 
in  the  determination  of  the  family  budget,  and  in  the  manner  in 
which  expenditures  are  made;  for  the  county  is  entitled  to  know 
whether  its  money  is  being  wisely  spent  in  the  interests  of  the  de- 
pendent children  and  for  their  permanent  benefit.  This  neighborly 
service  is  one  which  county  child-welfare  boards  can  w7ell  perform, 
and  in  many  counties  they  are  undertaking  it  with  a  fair  degree  of 
success. 

The  Hennepin  County  Child-Welfare  Board  has  a  specially  or- 
ganized committee,  appointed  at  the  request  of  the  juvenile  court 
judge,  to  consider  all  applications  for  county  allowances,  reviewing 
the  facts  of  each  case,  preparing  the  family  budget,  and  making 
recommendations  to  the  court  in  each  instance.  Allowances  previ- 
ously made  are  regularly  reviewed  by  this  committee  to  ascertain 
that  the  purposes  of  the  law  are  being  fulfilled. 

Probation  and  school-attendance  work. 

The  juvenile  court  judge  may,  and  frequently  does,  call  upon  the 
members  and  agents  of  the  local  board  to  act  as  probation  officers  in 
the  preliminary  investigation  and  follow-up  care  of  cases  involving 
dependency,  neglect,  and  delinquency,  and  the  school  authorities 
may  call  upon  them  to  act  as  attendance  officers  in  the  enforcement 
of  the  compulsory  education  laws. 

County  health  nursing. 

Under  a  recent  law,  the  county  child-welfare  board  may  super- 
vise and  direct  the  activity  of  the  county  health  nurses,  and  in  Henne- 
pin County  (containing  the  city  of  Minneapolis)  the  entire  county 
nursing  system  is  under  the  board's  jurisdiction. 

Law  enforcement. 

In  law  enforcement  the  welfare  boards  find  a  large  field  of  en- 
deavor. The  prevention  of  child  labor,  the  keeping  of  children  in 
school  for  the  full  legal  period,  the  prosecution  of  sex  offenses  (par- 


MINNESOTA.  41 

ticularly  those  against  young  girls),  and  the  proper  regulation  of 
places  of  commercialized  recreation — such  as  public  pool  rooms  and 
dance  halls — are  all  matters  within  the  peculiar  province  of  these 
groups.  With  such  duties  the  boards  naturally  become  centers,  to 
which  all  cases  involving  the  care  and  well-being  of  children  are 
reported,  and  in  some  counties  they  have  become  informal  "  confi- 
dential exchanges,"  where  records  are  kept  of  all  children  who  have 
come  to  the  attention  of  social  and  philanthropic  agencies. 

STATE  CONFERENCES  OF  CHILD-WELFARE  BOARDS. 

The  law  provides  for  the  attendance  at  the  annual  State  confer- 
ence of  social  work  of  one  member  of  the  county  child-welfare  board 
at  the  expense  of  the  county.  (The  juvenile-court  judge  is  also  per- 
mitted to  attend  under  the  same  circumstances.)  At  this  conference 
special  sessions  are  held  for  the  county  groups  for  the  discussion  of 
methods,  relationships,  and  ideals. 

In  1921  a  plan  was  started  for  regional  or  district  conferences 
whereby  a  small  group  of  boards  may  meet  together  for  the  exchange 
of  ideas  and  experience.  Much  is  expected  of  these  smaller  con- 
ferences, which  can  be  of  a  more  informal  nature  and  which  a 
larger  number  of  board  members  can  attend.  It  is  also  hoped  that 
public  meetings  can  be  arranged  for  in  the  community  where  the 
conference  is  held — and  at  the  same  time — so  that  an  opportunity 
may  be  afforded  for  general  discussion  and  education,  which  are  so 
essential  to  the  successful  development  of  the  work  of  these  boards 
and  the  enforcement  of  laws  for  child  protection. 

EDUCATION  AND  PREVENTION. 

On  the  side  of  education  and  preventive  work  the  boards  are  just 
beginning  to  realize  their  possibilities.  Through  attendance  at  the 
State  conference  of  social  work  an  opportunity  is  afforded  for  in- 
struction, discussion  of  special  problems,  and  interchange  of  views 
and  experience,  and  the  regional  conferences  will  aid  that  process. 

Tt  is  everywhere  apparent  that  the  various  communities  must  be 
more  thoroughly  informed  as  to  the  meaning,  purposes,  and  ideals 
of  the  laws  for  child  protection,  and  the  functions  of  the  welfare 
boards.  Moreover,  the  case-work  method  in  this  field — i.  e.,  careful 
individual  investigation  and  treatment  of  each  case — is  not  under- 
stood by  the  average  citizen,  who  is  likely  to  regard  this  method,  as 
the  members  of  the  boards  themselves  sometimes  do,  as  officious 
meddling  with  private  affairs  in  a  manner  that  is  odious  and  involves 
much  red  tape. 

Again,  the  very  technical  nature  of  the  job  which  confronts  the 
lay  members  of  county  child-welfare  boards  places  a  special  burden 
111532°— 22 4 


42  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

of  education  upon  the  State  office.  The  local  conferences  will  achieve 
the  double  purpose  of  instructing  the  boards  and  educating  the 
community. 

A  study  of  environmental  conditions  is  needed  to  determine  what 
community  influences  are  restricting  the  child's  full  development  or 
lending  him  into  positively  harmful  paths.  The  child-welfare  board 
as  the  official  agency  of  the  county  for  the  protection  of  childhood 
must  concern  itself  in  the  future  with  these  fundamental  factors 
while  it  deals  with  the  individual  cases  of  maladjustment.  Too 
much  absorption  in  individual  problems  without  a  vision  of  the 
larger  underlying  causes  and  the  means  of  fundamental  reconstruc- 
tion frequently  results  in  discouragement  and  disappointment  to 
board  members.  People  must  be  inspired  to  the  broader  field  of  pre- 
vention while  they  seek  individual  remedy.  Minnesota  is  beginning 
to  realize  the  possibilities  of  preventive  work,  and  its  program  will 
develop  in  proportion  as  that  phase  is  duly  emphasized. 

The  Minnesota  plan  of  county  administration,  with  centralization 
of  authority  in  the  State  department,  has  not  been  operative  long 
enough  to  permit  anything  like  a  final  judgment  as  to  its  ultimate  suc- 
cess in  establishing  the  right  balance  between  these  two  units  of  gov- 
ernment in  the  solution  of  their  joint  problem.  Within  the  structure 
of  the  plan  is  found  recognition  of  the  need  for  local  responsibility 
and  control,  and  upon  the  proper  development  of  the  county  child- 
welfare  board  system  under  wise  and  sympathetic  guidance  from  the 
State  board  of  control  and  its  agents  depends  the  future  of  the  whole 
State  program. 


THE    NORTH    CAROLINA    SYSTEM    OF    COUNTY    PUBLIC- 
WELFARE  WORK.1 

Roland  F.  Beasley, 
Former  Commissioner  of  Public  Welfare,  North  Carolina. 

A  COUNTY  SYSTEM  ADAPTED  TO  RURAL  POPULATIONS. 

The  development  of  the  Xorth  Carolina  plan  of  public  welfare  to 
its  present  marked  success  presents  a  very  interesting  and  instructive 
story,  not  only  in  the  study  of  social  service  but  in  connection  with 
political  and  legislative  reactions  thereto. 

The  State  has  both  manufacturing  and  agricultural  interests,  the 
latter  predominating.  It  has  only  a  few  cities  containing  so  much  as 
40,000  or  50,000  population.  Except  for  the  lack  of  a  foreign  popu- 
lation, the  social  problems  of  its  cities  differ  in  magnitude  rather 
than  in  kind  from  those  of  the  large  cities  of  the  country.  But  the 
State's  total  population  of  two  and  one-half  million,  scattered  over 
a  wide  area,  was  without  any  organized  social  service  whatever, 
until  four  years  ago.  Obviously,  the  experience  of  such  a  State  in 
developing  its  social  resources  must  afford  a  valuable  example  to 
many  of  the  States  of  the  Union.  North  Carolina  can  offer  nothing 
of  value  to  the  large  cities  where  social  work  has  reached  its  greatest 
development  and  has  been  longest  in  operation.  But  it  does  offer  a 
great  deal  to  States  with  conditions  similar  to  its  own  and  to  those 
agencies  which  are  now  studying  the  small  town  and  rural  com- 
munity— a  field  which,  after  too  long  neglect,  is  now  quite  generally 
recognized  as  offering  great  opportunities  for  achievement  in  social 
work. 

The  North  Carolina  plan  may  justly  be  called  a  state-wide  plan, 
since  it  calls  for  an  organization  in  each  county  amenable  to  the 
State  board  of  charities  and  public  welfare  and  dependent  upon  it 
for  advice,  for  direction,  for  interpretation  of  the  laws,  and  for  that 
general  assistance  without  which  successful  county  work  could  not 
be  accomplished.  The  whole  scheme  is  flexible,  and  its  execution 
gives  wide  latitude  for  the  personality  of  the  officials  and  workers. 


'This  manuscript  was  completed  in  December,  1021.  See  also  papei  by  Mrs.  Clarence 
A.  Johnson,  present  Commissioner  of  Public  Welfare  of  North  Carolina,  on  "The  Organi- 
sation of  county  juvenile  courts  in  a  rural  State,"  In  Proceedings  of  the  Conference  on 
Juvenile-Court  Standards,  U.  S.  Children's  Bureau.  Washington,  1922.  Publication  No. 
97,  pp.  75-81. 

43 


44  COUNTY    ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

This  Latitude  was  its  salvation  in  the  initial  period.  It  can  readily 
be  seen  that,  in  a  State  where  local  self-government  is  highly  prized 
and  vigorously  maintained  and  practiced,  and  where  the  amount  of 
social  work  to  be  done  in  a  single  county  might  not  be  sufficient,  in 
the  estimation  of  the  public,  to  warrant  the  expenditure  of  much 
money  or  the  employment  of  many  workers — if  any  at  all — no  cut- 
and-dried  plan  and  method  of  work  could  be  imposed  from  without 
in  a  short  period.  The  State  board,  therefore,  carefully  nurtured  the 
growth  of  the  work  in  each  county  and  gave  it  time  for  development. 

The  statute  creating  the  State  board  of  charities  and  public 
welfare3  and  defining  its  duties  was  passed  by  the  legislature  of 
1017.  It  was  intended  that  for  two  years  the  board  should  have 
$15,000  a  year  from  the  State  to  carry  on  its  work.  Through  legisla- 
tive oversight  no  appropriation  was  made.  The  members  of  the 
board  borrowed  $10,000  on  their  own  indorsement  for  the  two  years. 
A  State  commissioner  of  public  welfare  was  elected  and  began  work. 
At  this  time  the  system  was  not  obligatory  on  the  counties  but  only 
permissive,  and  none  of  the  counties  chose  to  accept  it.  The  com- 
missioner therefore  spent  his  time  in  educational  work  and  in  pre- 
paring the  way  for  a  better  law  and  greater  support  at  the  follow- 
ing session.  His  experience  and  knowledge  of  the  State  convinced 
him  of  the  necessity  of  having  the  county  organization  law  made  com- 
pulsory, of  including  in  the  general  plan  the  enforcement  of  school 
attendance,  and  of  enacting  a  state-wide  and  modern  juvenile  court 
law.  At  the  time  there  was  not  a  juvenile  court  in  the  State.  The 
legislature  of  1919  provided  for  all  these  things  and  made  an  appro- 
priation sufficient  for  a  fairly  adequate  staff  for  the  State  board.4 

The  plan  upon  which  the  North  Carolina  Board  of  Charities  and 
Public  Welfare  is  working  has  created  considerable  interest  among 
public-welfare  students  and  officials,  as  well  as  among  those  whose 
constructive  thinking  is  directed  toward  a  larger  interpretation  and 
development  of  the  whole  field  of  charities,  corrections,  and  general 
public  welfare.  This  interest  is  due  largely  to  a  number  of  special 
features,  chief  among  which  are  the  state-wide  program,  the  county 
plan,  the  special  emphasis  upon  the  development,  of  rural  life,  and 
the  close  correlation  between  education  and  public  welfare.  The 
feature  about  which  most  interest  has  centered  is  the  county  plan  of 
organization,  which  this  paper  will  briefly  describe, 

THE  STATE-WIDE  PROGRAM. 

The  present  organization  of  the  state- wide  system  of  public  wel- 
fare comprises  a  State  board  of  charities  and  public  welfare,  com- 

"N.  C.  Laws  1!H  7.  ch.  170. 
4  N.  C.  Laws   1919,  ch.  46. 


NORTH   CAROLINA.  45 

posed  of  seven  members  appointed  by  the  governor  and  serving  with- 
out pay.  This  board  elects  a  commissioner  of  public  welfare  and  a 
consulting  expert. 

The  work  of  the  board  is  classified  under  five  divisions:  County  or- 
ganization; child  welfare;  institutional  supervision  and  aid;  mental 
hygiene;  and  education,  promotion,  and  publicity.  Countjr  organiza- 
tion includes  cooperation  with  county  boards  of  public  welfare,  county 
commissioners,  and  county  boards  of  education ;  cooperation  with  and 
supervision  of  the  work  of  the  county  superintendents  of  public  wel- 
fare, standardization  of  work  in  child  welfare ;  aid  to  mothers ;  and 
other  social  work,  such  as  outdoor  relief,  work  in  the  county  homes, 
and  the  other  features  outlined  under  the  county  plan.  The  child- 
welfare  work  includes  child-placing  and  allied  activities,  cooperation 
with  children's  institutions  and  juvenile  courts,  and  aid  in  the  en- 
forcement of  school  attendance.  The  division  of  institutional  super- 
vision relates  to  all  institutions  for  the  socially  deficient,  including 
those  for  dependent,  delinquent,  and  defective  children,  the  penal 
institutions,  the  hospitals  for  the  insane,  county  homes,  and  others. 
The  mental-hygiene  work  includes  psychiatric  service  in  the  form 
of  clinics,  special  examinations,  individual  and  group  tests,  research, 
and  promotion  of  mental  health  in  the  State.  The  work  of  educa- 
tion, promotion,  and  publicity  comprises  special  efforts  to  interpret 
the  purposes  and  ideals  of  public-welfare  work  and  to  encourage  its 
successful  organization  in  the  State.  These  include  the  Quarterly 
Bulletin,  the  Monthly  News  Letter,  special  studies  and  research,  dis- 
trict conferences,  institutes  of  public  welfare,  newspaper  publicity, 
and  participation  in  State  and  sectional  conferences. 

From  this  brief  survey  of  the  state-wide  program  something  of 
the  comprehensiveness  of  the  county  work  begins  to  appear.  The 
state-wide  system  emphasizes  and  makes  easier  the  standardization 
of  work  in  the  counties  and  the  development  of  public-welfare  work 
in  the  rural  communities,  and  it  enables  the  board  of  public  welfare 
to  align  itself  closely  with  the  departments  of  education  and  public 
health  and  with  other  departments.  From  the  details  of  the  county 
system  other  advantages  will  appear,  such  as  the  supervision  of  child 
placing  and  receiving  and  of  mothers'  aid;  the  training  of  social 
workers;  the  development  of  a  state-wide  social  consciousness;  and 
the  promotion  of  efficient  organization. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  COUNTY  WORK. 

The  county  plan  of  organization  is  as  follows:  Each  county  in  the 
State  is  to  have  a  superintendent  of  public  welfare,  jointly  elected 
by  the  board  of  county  commissioners  and  the  county  board  of  edu- 
cation. Their  selection  must  be  approved  by  the  State  commissioner 
of  public  welfare,  after  which  an  official  certificate  will  be  issued  by 


46  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

the  board  of  county  commissioners.  The  salary  of  the  superintend- 
ent, which  should  be  adequate,  is  to  be  provided,  in  equal  shares,  by 
the  two  boards.  In  counties  of  less  than  32,000  population,  the  lead- 
ership in  the  work  of  public  welfare  may  be  assigned  to  the  county 
superintendent  of  schools,  who  shall  receive  no  additional  pay  for 
the  work,  but  who  may  be  given  assistance  in  performing  the  duties 
involved.  The  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  may  select 
such  assistants  and  office  force  as  are  authorized  by  the  county  board. 
Working  with  the  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  is  a 
county  board  of  public  welware,  the  members  of  which  are  civic- 
minded  men  and  women  appointed  by  the  State  board  of  charities 
and  public  welfare. 

The  duties  and  opportunities  of  the  county  superintendent  of  public 
welfare  are  such  as  to  challenge  the  best  efforts  of  trained  full-time 
workers  and  to  constitute  an  incentive  for  the  training  of  public 
leaders  in  this  field.  In  general,  the  duties  of  the  county  superin- 
tendent of  public  welfare  may  be  said  to  include  work  in  the  five 
divisions  of  State  organization — administration  and  organization 
of  the  county  office,  child  welfare,  cooperation  with  institutions,  care 
for  the  defective,  and  education  of  the  people  in  the  principles  of 
public  welfare. 

Technically  the  duties  of  the  county  superintendent  of  public  wel- 
fare may  be  classified  as  follows: 

1.  Administration  of  the  ( ounty  office  and  cooperation  tofith  the  State  depart- 

ment. 

(a)  To    maintain    and    perfect    the    office    of    county    superintendent, 

keeping  a  satisfactory  set  of  records  and  making  such  reports  as 
may  be  necessary. 

(b)  To  act  as  agent  of  the  State  board  of  charities  and  public  welfare 

in  any  work  to  be  done  by  the  State  board  within  the  county. 

(c)  To  inspect  and  investigate  county  homes,  convict  camps,  and  alms- 

houses, and  report  to  the  State  board  of  charities  and  public  wel- 
fare such  matters  respecting  these  institutions  as  may  be  required 
by  the  State  board. 

(d)  To  act  as  secretary  of  the  county  board  of  public  welfare. 

(e)  To  assist  the  State  child-welfare  commission  in  the  enforcement  of 

the  child-labor  law. 

2.  Child  welfare. 

(a)  To  look  after  and  help  children  who  are  in  danger  of  becoming 

delinquent  or  dependent  and  prevent  such  children  from  falling 

into  delinquency  or  neglect. 
(6)   To  exercise  oversight  of  dependent  children  who  have,   under  the 

direction  of  the   State   board,  been  placed  in   homes  within   the 

confines  of  the  county. 

3.  Charities  and  corrections. 

(a)  To  investigate  applications  for  relief  made  to  the  county  commis- 
sioners and  advise  them  as  to  proper  disb\irsements  of  poor  funds 
or  other  proper  action  relative  to  such  cases. 


NORTH   CAROLINA.  47 

3.  Charities  and  corrections — Continued. 

(b)  To  supervise   and  help  persons   discharged   from  hospitals   for   the 

insane   and   other   State   institutions,   including   prisons,   reforma- 
tories, institutions  for  children,  etc. 

(c)  To  exercise  oversight  of  persons  in  the  county  on  parole  from  the 

penitentiary  and  from  reformatories. 

(d)  To  help  the  unemployed  to  obtain  employment. 

(e)  To  study  conditions  and  causes  of  poverty  and  distress  in  the  county. 

4.  Probation  and  juvenile-court  worfo. 

(a)  To  act  as  probation  officer  for  children  adjudged  delinquent  by  the 

courts  and  to  assume,  under,  the  direction  of  the  court,  the  work  of 
guardianship  of  children  adjudged  neglected. 

(b)  To  act  as  chief  probation  officer,  where  any  probation  officers  are 

already  employed  or  are  subsequently  to  be  appointed  in  the  county 
or  in  cities  in  the  county. 

5.  School  attendance  enforcement. 

As  chief  school-attendance  officer,  to  enforce  the  compulsory  education 
law,  dealing  particularly  with  those  cases  where  unexcused  absences 
require  investigation  and  action. 

6.  Community  organization. 

(a)  To  assist  in  the  correlation  of  community   social    agencies  and    to 

cooperate  with  other  groups. 

(b)  To  enforce  laws  relating  to  amusement  places  or  other  commercial 

recreation. 

(c)  To  promote  wholesome  recreation  throughout  the  county  for  adults 

and  children. 

STATE-WIDE  SYSTEM  OF  JUVENILE  COURTS. 

North  Carolina  has  a  state- wide  system  of  juvenile  courts  by  which 
court  protection  and  care  are  provided  for  every  delinquent,  depend- 
ent, and  neglected  child  under  16  years  of  age  in  the  State.  Those 
familiar  with  the  history  of  juvenile  court  development  know  that 
while  courts  of  this  character  have  generally  been  provided  for  urban 
populations  throughout  the  country,  the  principle  is  being  extended 
to  rural  populations  slowly  and  with  difficulty.  How  this  State  has 
undertaken  to  cover  its  whole  territory  at  once  is  a  matter  of  peculiar 
importance  to  all  persons  and  agencies  interested  in  the  general 
subject. 

Prior  to  the  year  1919  North  Carolina  had  a  general  statute  by 
which  any  criminal  court  might  voluntarily  assume  the  functions  of 
a  juvenile  court;  but  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  nothing  worth 
while  came  of  this  statute  for  lack  of  proper  court  machinery  and  of 
an  understanding  as  to  what  a  juvenile  court  should  be.  The  legis- 
lature of  1919  established  a  uniform  system  for  the  State,  made  a 
court  in  each  county  mandatory,  and  included  in  the  law  the  most 
modern  principles  of  the  juvenile  court. 

The  court  system  of  the  State  having  jurisdiction  over  adults  is 
embraced  in  20  judicial  districts  known  as  superior-court  districts, 
with  20  judges  covering  the  districts  and  holding  court  at  stated 


48  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

periods  in  each  of  the  LOO  counties.  A  resident  clerk  of  the  court  is 
elected  in  each  county;  he  keeps  the  court  open  at  all  times  for  the 
transaction  of  all  business  not  requiring  the  presence  of  the  presiding 
judge.  In  order  to  divorce  the  juvenile  court  from  the  old  ideas  of 
criminal  procedure  and  make  it  in  fact  an  educational  and  discipli- 
nary agency  embracing  the  fundamental  work  of  social  adjustment, 
it  was  necessary  to  set  up  entirely  new  agencies  in  each  county.  In 
small  rural  counties  there  was  not  sufficient  work  to  justify  the 
employment  of  men  devoted  exclusively  to  carrying  on  a  juvenile 
court,  and  it  was,  therefore,  impossible  to  have  such  courts  unless  they 
could  be  tied  up  with  some  already  existing  and  stable  agency.  The 
plan  was  adopted  of  making  the  superior-court  clerks  ex  officio 
judges  of  the  juvenile  courts  for  their  respective  counties.  The 
juvenile  court  statute  is  explicit  as  to  procedure  and  puts  into  the 
hands  of  these  judges  the  powers  and  duties  attaching  to  the  most 
modern  juvenile  courts. 

"  Here  are  100  untrained  men,"  it  may  be  said,  "  who  are  suddenly 
given  powers  and  duties  with  which  they  are  not  familiar,  and  for 
which  they  have  had  no  special  training.  How  will  the  plan  work 
out  in  practice?"  The  answer  is  that  it  works  out  satisfactorily,  for 
several  reasons.  These  superior-court  clerks  are  men  of  common  sense 
and  good  judgment  as  well  as  of  human  sympathies,  else  they  could 
not  have  been  elected  to  their  present  position  under  the  circum- 
stances existing  in  this  State.  They  are  elected  for  long  terms ;  they 
are  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  people  of  their  counties ;  many  of 
them  are  Sunday-school  and  church  workers  or  school  officials ;  and 
they  are  always  on  the  job,  can  be  reached  easily  by  the  central  au- 
thority residing  in  the  State  board  of  charities  and  public  welfare, 
and  are  not  only  teachable  but  anxious  to  learn.  Probably  no  other 
group  of  100  men  could  have  been  selected  who  would  be  so  well 
fitted  to  take  up  the  work. 

Given  a  juvenile-court  judge  and  a  mandatory  procedure  in  each 
county,  the  next  step  was  to  provide  a  paid  probation  officer  for 
each  court.  Here  again  a  satisfactory  combination  was  made.  The 
county  superintendent  of  public  welfare,  appointed  by  the  county 
commissioners  and  the  county  board  of  education,  is  the  chief  proba- 
tion officer  for  the  county  juvenile  court.  The  100  counties  of  the 
State  vary  in  population  from  5,000  to  80,000,  and  in  area  from  less 
than  200  to  nearly  1,000  square  miles.  This  variation  in  size  and 
population  necessitates  a  certain  elasticity  in  the  county  system,  and 
this  point  is  met  by  making  the  county  superintendent  the  chief 
official  and  providing  supplementary  help  where  needed. 

The  county  superintendents  of  public  welfare  are  selected  from 
former  teachers  and  school  superintendents,  young  men  having  had 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  training  or  having  done  some  war-service  work,  and,  in 


NORTH    CAROLINA.  49 

the  more  populous  counties,  from  those  having  some  training  in  actual 
probation  work  and  in  social  work  of  a  general  nature. 

The  juvenile-court  judges  and  their  probation  officers  (the  county 
superintendents  of  public  welfare)  are  called  together  from  time  to 
time  and  given  instructions  in  their  duties.  The  courts  and  the 
superintendents  are  both  under  the  general  supervision  of  the  State 
board  of  charities  and  public  welfare,  whose  approval  is  necessary 
for  the  appointment  of  all  probation  officials.  At  the  head  of  the 
State  board's  division  of  child  welfare,  established  in  1921,  is  a 
trained  person  whose  business  it  is  to  keep  in  constant  contact  with 
the  court  and  probation  work  and  assist  in  difficult  situations. 

ENFORCEMENT  OF  THE  SCHOOL  ATTENDANCE  AND  CHILD 

LABOR  LAWS. 

The  first  child  labor  bill  introduced  in  the  Legislature  of  North 
Carolina  was  that  of  1887.  It  was  a  typical  prohibitive  measure,  and 
it  was  opposed  and  defeated  by  representatives  of  cotton  manufac- 
turers, aided  by  the  general  apathy  on  the  subject  existing  at  that 
time.  Similar  measures  were  brought  before  successive  legislatures, 
and  in  1903  a  mild  measure  was  passed  without  any  special  provision 
for  its  enforcement.  There  was  no  attempt  at  enforcement  of  child- 
labor  legislation  by  State  authorities  in  North  Carolina  until  after 
the  first  Federal  child  labor  law5  came  into  existence.  A  bill  drawn 
along  the  lines  of  modern  legislation  was  introduced  in  the  legisla- 
ture of  1919  and  was  passed.  This  law  not  only  prohibits  the  work 
of  children  under  14,  but  also  carries  the  concept  of  positive  child- 
welfare  work.  Its  administration  is  closely  linked  with  the  enforce- 
ment of  school  attendance,  with  the  promotion  of  a  system  of  public 
amusements  and  recreation,  and  with  social  care  for  children  who  are 
forbidden  gainful  employment,  After  some  contention  as  to  what 
machinery  should  be  provided  for  carrying  it  out.  a  special  child- 
welfare  commission  was  created,  composed  of  ex  officio  members — 
the  State  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  the  secretary  of  the 
State  board  of  health,  and  the  State  commissioner  of  public  welfare. 
Representatives  of  the  cotton  manufacturers  took  the  lead  in  pro- 
posing this  solution  of  the  question.  Tn  each  county  the  county 
superintendent  of  public  welfare,  besides  acting  as  probation  officer, 
serves  as  a  compulsory  school-attendance  officer  for  the  whole  county 
and  as  the  local  representative  of  the  State  child-welfare  commission 
in  enforcing  the  child  labor  law. 

The  county  superintendents  of  public-welfare  work  under  the 
direction  of  the  executive  officer  of  the  State  child-welfare  commis- 


639  Stat.  675.  This  law  became  effective  September  1,  1017.  ami  was  declared  un- 
constitutional June  3,  1918.  The  Federal  child  labor  tax  law  i  in  Slat.  1138)  became 
effective  April  25,  1919,  and  was  declared  unconstitutional  May  15,  1922. 


50  COUNTY  ORGANIZATION  FOR  CHILD  CARE. 

sion,  which  has  only  enough  funds  to  employ  one  general  executive 
officer  and  an  office  stenographer.  They  are  instructed  to  start  with 
school  attendance  as  a  basis  for  their  operations.  Every  child  under 
14  years  of  age  is  expected  to  be  in  school.  If  he  is  not  there,  the 
school  authorities  report  his  absence  to  the  county  superintendent  of 
public  welfare,  who  proceeds  to  find  the  child,  to  ascertain  the  cause 
that  is  keeping  him  from  school,  and  to  take  such  measures  as  are 
necessary  to  secure  his  attendance.  Whether  the  superintendent  finds 
the  child  on  the  street  or  in  a  mercantile  establishment  or  in  a  manu- 
facturing plant,  the  situation  is  the  same;  the  child  is  required  to 
enter  school.    No  exceptions  are  permitted. 

On  visiting  a  county,  the  executive  officer  of  the  commission,  with 
the  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare,  inspects  the  industrial 
plants,  consults  with  their  managers  or  owners,  and  in  every  way 
seeks  to  bring  out  helpful  suggestions  bearing  upon  the  local  situa- 
tion. Many  of  the  manufacturers  are  asking  his  advice  in  regard  to 
plans  along  various  lines  of  community  development,  including  rec- 
reation, social-welfare  work,  playgrounds,  vocational  courses,  and 
other  forms  of  community  welfare  that  bear  upon  child  life. 

ADAPTABILITY  OF  THE  COUNTY  PLAN. 

The  county  public-welfare  workers  are  confronted  with  the  prob- 
lems arising  from  rural  life  and  from  life  in  villages,  small  towns, 
and  small  manufacturing  communities.  The  system  seems  to  be 
elastic  enough  and  compact  enough  to  meet  them  all  eventually. 
The  plans  contemplate  ultimately  the  adequate  protection  of  every 
delinquent,  neglected,  and  dependent  child  within  the  State,  and 
it  is  believed  that  the  State  has  the  framework  of  the  machinery  for 
doing  it. 

The  fact  can  not  be  stressed  too  strongly  that  the  organization  has 
wide  latitude.  It  is  capable  of  the  utmost  expansion  to  fit  the  needs 
of  larger  counties,  and  it  can  be  enlarged  indefinitely  as  a  community 
becomes  educated  in  social-welfare  endeavor  and  is  willing  to  pro- 
vide increasing  support.  The  county  superintendent  of  public 
welfare  and  the  juvenile  court  judge  in  each  county  form  a  nucleus 
for  a  staff  which  may  increase  as  the  needs  of  the  county  are  recog- 
nized and  support  is  granted.  Some  counties  have  only  these  two 
officials,  while  larger  counties  have  staffs  of  considerable  size.  These 
primary  officials  are  put  to  a  great  test  in  developing  their  work. 
All  are  being  linked  up  with  the  State  department  in  helpful  ways. 
Some  counties  are  much  more  advanced  than  others,  owing  to  the 
greater  skill  of  their  superintendents  or  to  the  presence  of  individual 
citizens  who  are  interested  in  social  welfare,  and  are  able  to  develop 
every  resource  of  the  community. 


NORTH    CAROLINA.  51 

THE  WORK  OF  TWO   COUNTIES.8 

The  quality  and  amount  of  work  being  done  by  the  county  super- 
intendents of  public  welfare  warrant  the  belief  that  the  assignment 
and  classification  of  duties  has  been  well  made,  but  the  experience 
of  years  is  necessary  for  an  adequate  test.  For  the  purpose  of  this 
paper,  the  general  work  of  two  counties  will  serve  as  illustrations. 

Durham  County,  with  a  population  of  42,219,  and  with  only  one 
town — Durham,  the  county  seat  (population,  21,719),  reports  the 
following  activities: 

1.  Office  administration  and  cooperation  with  the  State   board. 

(a)  Employs   a  full-time  superintendent  of  public  welfare  and  a  full- 

time  assistant,  whose  duties  center  largely  in  the  work  of  child 
welfare. 

(b)  Maintains   an  office  with  records  and   reports,   as   required  by  the 

State  department  and  as  needed  for  the  work. 

(c)  Cooperated  with  the  North  Carolina  Children's  Home  Society  (Inc.), 

in  the  placing  of  about  20  children  and  in  looking  up  similar  cases 
referred  by  the  State  board  of  charities  and  public  welfare. 

2.  Child  welfare. 

(a)  Placed  37  children  in  homes,  either  in  Durham  County  or  in  other 

counties,    and    maintained    follow-up    work;    cooperated    with    the 
churches  in  regard  to  more  than  30  orphans. 

(b)  Provided,  through  local  agencies,  the  funds  for  building  a  cottage 

with  a  capacity  of  30  boys  at  the  Jackson  Training  School   for 
Delinquent  White  Boys. 
(C)   Now  working  on  plans  for  a  detention  home  for  children  having  social 
deficiencies  and  for  children   awaiting  permanent  placement. 

(d)  Granted  aid  to  mothers  in  more  than  20  cases. 

(e)  Cooperated  with  the  county  board  of  health  and  the  American  Red 

Cross  in  making  1.144  visits,  in  the  examination  of  395  children, 
and  in  the  clinical  dental  examination  of  1,484  children. 

3.  Charities  and  corrections. 

(a)  Inspected  the  County  Home;   assisted  in  its  work  and  weekly  re- 

ligious services. 

(b)  Inspected  the  county   jail   and  investigated  a  number  of  cases  of 

families  of  those  in  prison  and  on  county  work. 

(c)  Placed  a  number  of  girls  in  the  North  Carolina  Training  School  for 

Delinquent  White  Girls. 

4.  Probation  and  juvenile-court  work. 

Assisted  in  the  cases  of  65  juvenile  offenders. 

5.  School-attendance  work. 

Made  538  visits  to  homes  of  children  who  were  out  of  school,  to  improve 
child  and  family  life. 

6  By  December,  1021,  50  of  the  100  counties  in  tho  State  had  superintendents  <>f  public 
welfare  who  were  giving  all  their  time  to  the  work,  and  3  had  part-time  superintendents; 
in  4'\  counties  the  superintendents  of  schools  were  doing  the  welfare  work,  and  in  4  the, 
work  was  unorganized.      (See  North  Carolina's  Child  Welfare  Program  for  the  Care  and 

Protection  of  Dependent,  Neglected,  and  Delinquent  Children  through  Superintendents  o? 
Public  Welfare,  Juvenile  Courts,  and  Child-Caring  Institutions,  issued  by  the  State  Board 
of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare,  Raleigh,  N.  C,  p.  7.) 


52  COUNTY    ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

Mecklenburg  County,  population  80,695,  of  which  Charlotte  (pop- 
ulation 46,338)  is  the  county  scat,  reports  the  following  activities: 

1.  O/Jicc  admmistration  and  cooperation  with  the  State  board. 

(a)   Employs  a  full-time  superintendent  of  public  welfare  with  adequate 

assistance  in  the  office. 
(6)   Maintains  an  office  with  complete  record  and  filing  system  for  making 

reports. 

(c)  Has  been    instrumental   in  organizing  a   local   welfare  committee  in 

every  district. 

(d)  Cooperated  with  the  State  board  in  child-placing  and  in  the  publi- 

cation of  reports. 

(e)  Made  168  inspections  for  child  labor  in  cooperation  with  the  State 

child-welfare  commission. 

2.  Child  'welfare. 

(a)   Provided    for   a   cottage   at   the  Jackson   Training   School   for   De- 
linquent White  Boys. 
(6)   Held  conference  on  delinquency, 
(c)   Assisted  in  the  placing  of  a  number  of  children. 
((f)   Is  planning  a  detention  home  for  children. 

3.  Charities  and  corrections. 

(a)  Inspected  the  county  prison. 

(b)  Inspected  the  chain  gang. 

(c)  Inspected  the  county  home  and  gave  rating-  (of  73  per  cent). 

(d)  Held  conference  in  reference  to  morally  deficient  women. 

(e)  Provided  for  a  number  of  insane  who  could  not  be  admitted  to  the 

State  institutions. 

(f)  Supervised  paroled  'adults,  of  whom  there  were  6  at  the  end  of  the 

year. 

4.  Probation  and  juvenile-court  work. 

Assisted  in  juvenile-court  work,  the  total  number  of  cases  being  832 — 377 
official,  and  455  handled  by  probation  officers.  There  Avere  144  children 
on  probation  at  end  of  year.  County  superintendent  acted  as  chief  pro- 
bation officer,  assisted  by  an  officer  for  girls,  one  for  men,  and  one  for 
colored  children. 

5.  School-attendance    work. 

Handled  during  the  first  year  657  cases  of  nonattendance,  of  which  5 
were  excused  and  9  prosecuted,  showing  a  successful  management  of 
the  great  majority  of  cases;  during  the  second  year  1,659  cases  were 
handled,  most  of  them  successfully.  The  increased  work  was  due  to 
better   facilities. 

6.  Community  organization. 

(a)   Organized  the  county  council. 
(6)    Organized  a  county  welfare  day. 

(c)  Assisted  in  working  out  a  county  field  day  and  district  track  meets. 

(d)  Organized  a  county  baseball  league. 

(e)  Organized  a  county  play  and  recreation  association. 

(f)  Inspected  moving  pictures. 

(g)  Aided  in  organizing  recreation  plans  in  a  number  of  mills. 

(h)  Cooperated  with  the  Rotary  Club  in  providing  lunches  for  poor 
children;  with  churches  in  the  care  of  orphans;  with  the  Salvation 
Army,  the  American  Red  Cross,  the  department  of  health,  school 
officials,  mill  villages,  and  community  fairs. 


NORTH    CAROLINA.  53 

For  reasons  partly  outlined  in  this  discussion,  the  public-welfare 
idea  in  North  Carolina  has  been  launched  upon  a  very  wide  and 
comprehensive  basis.  The  title  of  the  county  officer  is  "  county  super- 
intendent of  public  welfare,"  but  the  speech  of  the  people  has  cut  out 
all  surplusage  and  adopted  the  term  "  the  welfare  officer."  This  is 
expressive  of  their  idea  of  what  the  functions  of  the  official  are — 
namely,  to  give  help  wherever  it  is  needed  and  is  not  otherwise  pro- 
vided, especially  to  children.  The  success  of  the  plan  has  been 
largely  the  result  of  the  ability  to  cooperate  closely  with  the  organ- 
ized philanthropic,  political,  judicial,  religious,  and  educational 
agencies  of  the  State.  The  work  was  designed  not  to  revolutionize 
anything  but  as  supplementary  to  the  activities  of  other  agencies, 
and  as  necessary  for  accomplishing  things  that  other  agencies  could 
not  do  and  that  imperatively  needed  to  be  done. 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  COUNTY  WELFARE  DEPARTMENTS  OF 
CALIFORNIA,  WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  THE  PRO- 
VISION FOR  NEEDY  CHILDREN.1 

Mrs.  Cornelia  McKiNNE  Sta.wvood, 
Secretary,  California.  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections. 

ORIGIN  AND  LEGAL  BASIS  OF  COUNTY  WELFARE  DEPARTMENTS. 

The  law  creating  the  California  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Cor- 
rections makes  it  the  duty  of  the  board  to  supervise,  inspect,  and  stand- 
ardize all  the  public  charitable  and  correctional  work  of  the  State.2 
That  work  is  broadly  divided  into  two  parts.  There  is  first  the 
work  performed  directly  by  the  State.  This  is  mainly  confined  to 
the  15  State  institutions — 6  State  hospitals,  2  homes  for  the  feeble- 
minded, 3  State  schools,  a  woman's  reformatory,  2  penitentiaries, 
and  a  home  for  the  adult  blind.  "With  them  this  study  is  not  con- 
cerned. The  other  part  comprises  the  work  which  is  done  locally 
in  the  several  counties  of  the  State.  This  work  is  varied,  including 
in  its  scope  the  aged,  the  sick,  children,  and  delinquents.  Some  of 
it  has  been  done  by  private  agencies,  and  some  of  it  by  public 
officials;  it  has  all  been  supported  entirely  or  in  part  by  county 
funds. 

In  inspection  and  supervision  of  this  complex  local  work,  the  State 
board  of  charities  and  corrections  long  ago  realized  that  its  vari- 
ous aspects  were  fundamentally  related.  It  became  clear  to  the 
board  that  the  various  agencies  which  were  severally  engaged  in  solv- 
ing social  ills  were  all  in  reality  working  upon  the  same  problem,  and 
that  they  ought  therefore  to  be  brought  together  under  unified  direc- 
tion and  control.  Moreover,  they  were  all  agencies  of  the  same  com- 
munity; that  community  politically  was  the  county:  and  in  the 
county  the  governing  body  legally  was  the  board  of  supervisors, 
which  alone  could  make  appointments  for  public  social  service  and 
dispense  public  funds  for  social  needs. 

The  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections  therefore  considered 
it  logical,  and  of  probable  advantage  in  raising  standards  of #  social 
work,  that  all  public  work  in  the  counties  be  unified  under  a  group 
of  socially  minded  citizens,  on  the  one  hand  representative  of  the 
community,  and  on  the  other  deriving  legal  standing  and  authority 

1  This  manuscript  was  completed  in  February,  1022. 

•Calif.  Stat.  1003,  p.  482,  as  amended  by  Stat.  1911,  p.  1334,  as  amend.. 1  by  Stat 
1915,  p.  847. 


56  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

from  the  supervisors.  A  law  of  California3  makes  this  possible.  It 
gives  the  hoard  of  supervisors  of  the  respective  counties  power  to 
delegate  to  a  committee,  a  person,  or  a  society  the  investigation  and 
periodic  visiting  of  all  persons  receiving  public  relief  in  the  county. 
The  statute  states  that  the  purpose  of  the  investigation  and  the  subse- 
quent visiting  is  to  bring  to  self-support,  persons  hitherto  unable  to 
maintain  themselves;  it  requires  that  all  records" of  investigation, 
supervision,  relief,  and  rehabilitation  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  State 
board  of  charities  and  corrections. 

In  accordance  with  the  program  adopted  by  the  State  board  of 
charities  and  corrections  and  with  the  provisions  of  this  statute,  the 
boards  of  supervisors  of  12  of  the  58  counties  of  California  (con- 
taining three-tenths  of  the  population  of  the  State)  have  created 
bodies  variously  denominated  "  department  of  public  welfare,"  "  wel- 
fare department,"  "  welfare  council,"  "  welfare  commission,"  or 
iw  social-service  commission."4 

The  first  county  to  organize  was  Fresno,  which  in  1916,  during  the 
trouble  with  unemployment,  established  a  relief  and  employment  com- 
mission to  distribute  relief  to  the  unemployed.  In  the  same  year  San 
Bernardino  County  organized  its  social-service  commission.  In  1917 
Fresno  County  added  two  supervisors  to  its  relief  and  employment 
commission  and  changed  the  name  to  "  Fresno  County  Welfare  De- 
partment of  the  Board  of  Supervisors."  A  former  county  agent  of 
the  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections  became  the  first  secretary 
of  the  reorganized  body.  Then  San  Mateo,  Sonoma,  Humboldt, 
Stanislaus,  Merced,  San  Diego,  Alameda,  Santa  Clara,  Kern,  and 
Glenn  Counties  followed  in  turn. 

This  study  will  concern  itself  with  the  12  counties  in  which  wel- 
fare departments  of  the  type  described  have  been  organized. 

PREPARATORY   WORK   AND  METHOD   OF   ORGANIZATION. 

Survey  of  the  social  work  of  the  counties. 

The  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections  in  its  county  organiza- 
tion program  has  directed  its  efforts  to  communities  unorganized  in 
social  work;  it  has  not  aimed  to  supplant  existing  agencies  of  tested 
value.  Information  in  regard  to  the  actual  conditions  in  individ- 
ual counties  has  been  secured  by  the  State  board  through  surveys 
made  at  the  invitation  of  the  supervisors. 

These  initial  surveys  by  the  board's  county  agent  are  offered  upon 
a  written  request  from  the  board  of  supervisors.     So  far  the  super- 

3  Calif.  Stat.  1901,  p.  G37,  as  amended  by  Stat.  1917,  p.  444. 

1  To  avoid  confusion,,  it  should  be  stated  that  the  county  boards  of  public  welfare  pro- 
vided for  in  the  California  law  (Calif.  Stat.  1915,  p.  339)  and  existing  in  two  counties 
have  merely  the  functions  of  supervising  local  charitable  and  penal  institutions  and  are 

not  in  any  way  related  to  the  subject  of  the  present  study. 


CALIFORNIA.  57 

visors  have  never  made  this  request  of  their  own  initiative.  The 
suggestion  has  had  to  come  to  them  from  public-spirited  and  social- 
minded  citizens  of  the  county,  who,  after  conference  with  the  county 
chairman  and  the  county  agent,  appeared  before  the  supervisors  to 
urge  them  to  ask  the  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections  to  make 
this  survey.  The  board  has  always  followed  the  policy  of  waiting 
for  an  invitation  from  the  supervisors,  for  the  reason  that  it  wants 
their  cooperation,  and  recognizes  that  it  has  not  the  power — any 
more  than  has  it  the  desire — to  coerce  them.  There  can  be  no  wel- 
fare department  unless  the  supervisors  are  ready  to  have  it.  Their 
invitation  to  have  the  survey  made  is  at  least  an  expression  of  their 
good  will,  and  makes  it  possible  for  the  board,  through  presentation 
of  the  facts  that  have  been  gathered,  to  justify  the  organization  of  a 
welfare  department,  and  to  persuade  the  supervisors  to  take  such 
action. 

The  survey   follows  this  general  outline : 

A.  Provision   for  children. 

1.  Needy   children. 

(a)   With  their  own  parents. 
(&)   In    foster   homes. 
(e)    In   institutions. 

2.  Wayward    children. 

(a)  In  family  boarding  homes. 

( b )  In  special  institutions. 

(c)  Probation   office. 

(1)  Administration  and  policies. 

(2)  Records;  case  studies. 

(d)  Detention   home. 

(1)  Buildings   and  equipment. 

(2)  Length  of  stay  of  children. 

(3)  Dietary. 

(4)  Segregation  and  supervision  of  children. 

(5)  Education;  recreation;  discipline. 

(6)  Records;  types  of  inmates;  case  studies. 

B.  County  out-relief. 

1.  Organization   and    administration. 

2.  Amount  of  aid   given;    nature  of  aid   given. 
:'..  Method   of  distribution. 

4.  Investigation    and    supervision. 

5.  Records. 

G.  Case    studies,    with    special    reference   to    children. 

C.  County  hospital. 

1.  Buildings   and    equipment. 

2.  Administration  and  management;  cost  of  maintenance. 

3.  Care  of  inmates:   (a)   custodial;    (b)   hospital. 

4.  Dietary. 

5.  Records. 

6.  Types  of  inmates ;  case  studies. 

111532°— 22 5 


58  COUNTY    ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

1 ).  ( Jounty    jail. 

1.  Administration  and  management;  eost  <>f  maintenance. 
'2.  Buildings  ami   equipment. 

3.  Dietary. 

4.  Segregation  and  supervision   of  prisoners. 

5.  Daily  routine;  discipline;  occupation. 
G.  Types  of  inmates. 

Such  surveys  have  been  made  by  the  county  agent  of  the  State 
board  in  14  counties.  As  a  result  of  these  studies  the  following  facts 
Mete  revealed:  In  many  counties  persons  dead  or  removed  from  the 
county  were  still  on  the  lists,  and  relief  was  received  in  their  names ; 
children  and  the  aged  were  neglected.  It  is  fair  to  say  that  in 
general  these  conditions,  though  typical,  were  but  vaguely  if  at  all 
realized  by  the  county  authorities;  however,  there  was  a  tendency 
on  the  part  of  some  county  officials  to  use  the  indigent  as  part  of 
the  political  machines  of  their  districts. 

When  the  survey  is  completed  the  report  is  given  to  the  super- 
visors in  executive  session  by  jthe  chairman  of  the  county  committee 
and  the  county  agent.  It  is  not  given  out  to  the  newspapers — or 
even  to  the  citizens  who  ask  for  it,  since,  though  intelligently  in- 
terested, they  are  not  charged  with  responsibility.  The  supervisors 
accept  the  findings  in  the  spirit  in  which  they  are  given.  The  ad- 
vantages of  the  welfare  department  are  set  before  them  by  repre- 
sentatives of  the  board.  Gradually  they  come  to  see  the  inadequacy 
of  the  old  system  and  to  consider  the  claims  of  the  new.  There  has 
been  no  unfavorable  publicity  to  discredit  them.  Finally,  supported 
by  responsible  public  sentiment,  they  accept  the  plan  and  pass  an 
ordinance  creating  a  welfare  department.8  All  this  has  usually 
taken  a  good  deal  of  time  and  patience. 

Education  and  propaganda. 

The  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections  gives  continued  pub- 
licity in  every  possible  way  to  the  needs  and  advantages  of  welfare 
departments.  It  issues  monthly  a  county  letter  in  mimeograph 
which  carries  to  all  social  agencies,  newspapers,  and  county  officers 
a  report  of  progress  of  the  welfare  departments  in  the  counties.  The 
following  are  typical  letters: 

State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections, 

County  Department. 

County  Welfare  Letteb  No.  5. 

Residence  of  Indigent  Pekson. 

A  recent  decision  of  the  attorney  seneral  on  the  point  of  county  responsibility 
based  on  residence  of  an  indigent  person  will  be  of  interest  to  all  supervisors 
and  county  relief  workers.    The  controversy  between  two  counties  was  brought 

sFoi-  a  typical   county  ordinance,  see  Note  10,  pp.  G0-C1. 


CALIFORNIA.  59 

to   the  State  board  of  charities   and  corrections  for  adjustment  and    was  by 
them  referred  to  the  attorney  general   for  decision.     After  reviewing;  the  case 
in  detail,  he  gives  his  opinion  as  follows:     *     *     *. 
County  Notes. 

Kern  County  Institutions  and  Welfare  Department  created  by  the  hoard  of 
supervisors  of  that  county  on  June  C>.  1921,  was  organized  for  work  on  July  5. 
Appointment  of  members  from  the  ranks  of  the  county's  most  earnest  and 
progiessive  men  and  women  speaks  well  for  the  judgment  of  the  supervisors 
and  the  future  of  the  department.  Two  members  of  the  hoard  of  supervisors 
are  also  members  of  the  department.  *  *  *.  The  county  relief  work  will 
he  continued  under  the  direction  of  *  *  *  and  the  health  work  under  the 
county  nurse,  *  *  *.  New  work  for  dependent  children  and  social  service 
in  connection  with  the  county  hospital  will  be  undertaken  under  a  new  worker, 
*  *  *  who  was  formally  with  the  Children's  Agency  of  the  San  Francisco 
Associated  Charities.  This  department  is  really  the  social  department  of  the 
board  of  supervisors  and  has  supervision  over  the  county  institutions,  the 
county  relief  and  health  work,  and  the  care  of  dependent  children.  The  organi- 
zation is  the  democratic  means  adopted  by  the  supervisors  to  bring  the  county 
government  closer  to  the  citizens  in  matters  of  social  import. 

Merced  Count;/  Welfare  Department  combines  with  the  Red  Cross  chapter 
to  provide  milk  to  dependent  children  in  some  of  the  rural  school  districts  of 
that  county.  The  Junior  Red  Cross  of  Merced  contributes  to  the  support  of  a 
dental  hygienist  in  the  schools.  Certain  dependent  children  who  need  dental 
work  done  are  provided  for  by  the  county  welfare  department.  This  county 
presents  one  of  the  best  examples  of  a  true  community  spirit,  where  all  the 
agencies  fuse  their  money  and  energy  into  one  object — to  get  the  work  done. 

Orange  County  has  established  a  social  service  department  of  the  county  aid 
commissioner's  office.  *  *  *  The  superintendent  of  that  department  *  *  * 
will  have  charge  of  the  care  of  dependent  children  and  rehabilitation  of  de- 
pendent families     *     *     *. 

San  Diego  County  welfare  department  has  assumed  new  responsibilities  in 
the  care  of  dependent  children  by  accepting  the  work  of  investigating  and  su- 
pervising family  boarding  homes  where  children  may  be  boarded.  The  homes 
are  licensed  by  the  State  board  of  charities,  which  delegates  to  the  county  office 
the  authority  of  local  supervision  and  recommendation.  *  *  *  The  secre- 
tary of  the  welfare  department  is  in  charge  of  the  children's  work     *     *     *. 

July.  1921.  County  Agent. 


County   Wkuark   Letter  No.   8. 

We  are  inclosing  to  you  for  your  information  a  statement  of  the  policies  of 
the  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections  regarding  the  organization  of  new 
charitable  undertakings  and  methods  of  solicitation  of  funds  for  maintenance. 

The  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections  is  not  infrequently  called  upon 
to  authorize  or  license  Charitable  undertakings  proposed  or  already  -tailed  in 
places  and  under  conditions  which  are  very  questionable;  often  these  under- 
takings are  not  well  conceived  or  necessary  and  are  initiated  by  people  who 
have  an  imperfect  knowledge  e    what  they  are  undortak 

It  would  be  a  saving  of  money  and  social  effort  if  the  board  were  consulted 
before  any  definite  steps  are  take:'  to  inaugurate  the  new  work.  If  this  were 
done  many  foredoomed  social  failures  would  he  averted  and  much  valuable 
social  el'forl    might   he  diverted  into  needed  channels. 

Furthermore,  the  board  from  time  to  time  has  received  complaints  ahout  the 
methods  sometimes  resorted  to  in  the  collection  of  funds  for  the  support    of 


60  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

charitable  organizations.  As  a  result,  of  its  experience  of  many  years,  the 
board  has  formulated  certain  policies  which  are  set  down  In  the  inclosed  cir- 
cular. 

We  are  desirous  that  these  policies  shall  he  known  throughout  the  State,  par- 
ticularly by  the  county  welfare  organizations,  so  that  uniformity  of  action 
may  be  secured,  waste  of  time  and  money  and  energy  prevented,  and  the 
general  cause  of  social  welfare  may  be  advanced  wisely. 

Will  you.  therefore  give  this  letter  such  publicity — where  it  may  be  of  service? 

State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections. 

December,  1921. 

The  Supervisors'  Review,  the  official  organ  of  the  State  association 
of  county  supervisors,  which  goes  to  all  the  supervisors  in  the  58 
counties,  generally  copies  the  county  letters  in  full  in  its  issues. 
Representatives  of  the  State  board  and  its  staff  have  featured  the 
county  welfare  department  in  their  addresses  throughout  the  State. 
They  go  into  a  county  with  the  story  of  actual  accomplishment  in 
neighboring  counties. 

In  a  number  of  instances,  as  part  of  the  plan  of  education  and  per- 
suasion, the  chairman  of  the  county  committee  and  the  county  agent 
of  the  State  board  have  arranged  visits  by  the  board  of  supervisors 
to  another  county  where  a  welfare  department  is  in  operation.  Re- 
cently all  the  members  of  the  Kern  County  Welfare  Department, 
with  its  secretary,  were  conducted  by  the  chairman  of  the  Alameda 
County  committee  and  a  county  agent  through  the  institutions  of 
that  county,  in  order  to  make  a  careful  study  of  county  hospital  con- 
ditions. They  met  in  conference  with  the  Alameda  County  Welfare 
Commission  and  with  the  local  authorities  on  special  problems  of 
the  children's  work. 

Thus,  by  publicity,  by  conference,  and  by  cooperation  between 
counties  through  specially  arranged  trips  of  inspection,  the  State 
board  of  charities  and  corrections  develops  its  program  for  the 
formation  of  new  county  welfare  departments  and  the  standardiza- 
tion of  existing  departments.  As  a  result  of  this  program  the  State 
board  usually  receives  support  from  public-spirited  men  and  women 
in  the  county  who  realize  the  failure  of  the  old  system,  seeing  that 
money  is  wasted,  that  children  are  often  neglected  or  inadequately 
aided,  and  that  the  insistent  impose  upon  the  county  while  the  sensi- 
tive suffer  and  go  without  aid. 

Method  of  organization  of  welfare  departments. 

The  county-welfare  department  is  created  by  ordinance  of  the 
board  of  supervisors.10    A  typical  department  is  composed  of  seven 

10  A  typical  ordinance  is  that  of  Kern  County,  as  follows : 

Whereas,  the  increasing  volume  and  growing  complexity  of  the  business  of  Kern 
County  compel  its  board  of  supervisors  from  time  to  time  to  create  new  administrative 
agencies  in  order  that  the  service  rendered  to  the  people  may  continue  efficient  and 
effective,  and  whereas,  both  from  the  survey  of  county  institutions  and  social  work  made 
at  the  request  of  the  board  of  supervisors  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections 


CALIFORNIA.  61 

members;  the  supervisors  appoint  two  of  their  own  number  to  repre- 
sent them,   and  five   unpaid   men   and   women   interested   in  social 

and  from  independent  information  of  the  board  of  supervisors  itself,  it  appears  that  the 
future  needs  of  such  institutions  and  such  social  work  will  be  served  best  by  delegating 
to  a  special  department  of  county  work  acting  under  the  board  of  supervisors  the  right 
of  recommendations  touching  the  administration  and  direction  of  such  county  institutions 
and  the  rights  of  investigation,  supervision,  and  rehabilitation  of  county  dependents  (Stat. 
Calif.  1917,  p.  441),  therefore  be  it  resolved,  That:  Section  1.  A  department  of  county 
work  is  hereby  created  to  be  known  as  the  Kern  County  Institutions  and  Welfare  De 
partment.  Said  department  shall  consist  of  nine  members  to  be  appointed  by  the  board 
of  supervisors,  two  of  whom  shall  be  members  of  the  board  of  supervisors.  The  term 
of  office  of  each  member  shall  be  four  (4)  years  except  as  hereinafter  specified.  The 
members  of  the  department  shall  serve  without  salary.  Section  2.  As  soon  as  the 
members  of  the  department  are  appointed,  they  shall  be  divided  by  lot  into  three 
groups.  The  term  of  office  for  the  first  group  shall  be  two  years,  the  term  of  office 
for  the  second  group  shall  be  three  years,  and  the  term  of  office  for  the  third  group 
shall  be  four  years.  Section  3.  Whenever  a  vacancy  shall  occur  in  the  department, 
it  shall  be  filled  by  the  board  of  supervisors.  Section  4.  Whenever  in  this  resolution 
the  word  "department"  is  used  it  shall  mean  the  department  of  institutions  and 
welfare;  the  word  "board"  shall  mean  the  board  of  supervisors.  Section  5.  The  depart 
ment  shall  resolve  itself  into  two  committees,  as  follows:  (a)  An  institution  committee 
composed  of  three  members  which  shall  have  supervision  over  the  county  hospitals, 
the  County  Infirmary,  and  all  activities  carried  on  therein;  the  committee  shall  make 
rules  and  regulations  to  improve  and  regulate  such  institutions  and  activities,  the  conduct 
and  efficiency  of  the  same,  and  to  carry  out  the  other  purposes  of  this  resolution.  <  b  )  A 
social  service  committee  composed  of  six  members,  which  shall  have  supervision  over  all 
matters  relating  to  county  relief,  children's  welfare,  and  other  county  social  work.  All 
matters  coming  before  the  department  referring  in  essence  and  principle  to  the  (■•unity 
institutions  or  allied  activities  shall  be  referred  to  the  institution  committee.  All  matters 
coming  before  the  department  referring  in  essence  and  principle  to  the  county  relief  and 
social  work  shall  be  referred  to  the  social  service  committee.  Section  6.  The  powers  and 
duties  of  the  department  shall  be  as  follows:  (a)  To  appoint  a  secretary  and  such 
officers  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  department  ;  the  salaries 
of  such  secretary  and  officers  shall  be  fixed  by  the  department  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  board.  To  appoint  a  director  of  health  and  hospitals,  who  shall  carry  out  the 
policies  of  the  department  as  outlined  by  the  institutions  committee:  such  director  may 
be  the  superintendent  of  the  county  hospital,  and  direct  the  clinics  and  other  public- 
health  work  of  the  county.  (6)  To  investigate,  determine  and  supervise  the  giving  <>f 
relief  to  persons  applying  for  county  aid  and  to  devise  ways  end  means  of  restoring  them 
to  self-support  where  possible.  (©)  To  investigate  all  applications  for  admission  to  the 
county  hospitals.  (d)  To  maintain  a  modern  system  of  records  on  the  county  relief 
cases  in  accordance  with  forms  and  methods  prescribed  by  the  State  Hoard  of  I'll  i 
and  Corrections,  as  provided  in  Statutes  of  California,  1917,  p.  444.  (e)  To  investigate 
all  charities  dependent  upon  public  appeal  or  general  solicitation  for  support  and  to  file 
its  report  thereon  with  the  board,  a  copy  of  such  report  to  be  filed  with  the  State  Board 
of  Charities  and  Corrections,  (f)  To  cooperate  with  the  juvenile  court,  probation  com- 
mittee, and  probation  office  upon  request,  (</)  To  investigate,  determine,  and  supervise 
family  boarding  homes  where  children  may  be  boarded;  the  standards  of  investigation, 
care,  and  record  to  be  in  accord  with  those  required  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and 
Corrections.  For  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  previsions  of  this  section  the  depart- 
ment may  be  authorized  to  receive  children  on  commitment  from  the  juvenile  court  under 
Section  8  of  the  juvenile  court  law.  (7i)  To  act  as  a  coordinating  agency  for  all  relief 
and  welfare  agencies  and  societies  hi  the  county  which  may  care  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  services  of  the  department.  Section  7.  Applications  for  relief  made  to  the  board 
or  to  any  member  thereof  shall  he  referred  promptly  to  the  department  for  investigation 
and  recommendation  thereon.  Section  8.  The  department  shall  file  with  the  hoard 
monthly  a  full  report  of  all  work  done,  with  recommendations,  and  shall  render  to  tin- 
board  for  its  approval  a  statement  of  all  relief  claims  against  the  county  with  lie 
persons  receiving  aid;  it  shall  render  also  a  report  on  the  administration  ami  conditions 
in  the  county  institutions,  with  recommendations.  Section  9.  The  depart  ment  shall 
recommend  to  the  board  the  duties  of  and  terms  of  compensation  for  employees  in  the 
county  institutions  under  its  supervision.  Section  10.  The  department  shall  make  all 
needful  rules  and  regulations  for  the  transaction  of  its  business.  Section  11.  This  resolu- 
tion shall  take  effect  July  1,   1921. 


G2  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOK    CHILD    CARE. 

work  to  share  the  responsibility  of  the  department.  There  is  no 
legal  provision  to  fix  this  or  any  particular  number,  hut  i 
proving  satisfactory  as  a  working  force.  Eight  of  the  departments 
are  composed  of  seven  members;  four  have  nine  members.  Some 
supervisors  have  chosen  the  personnel  geographically  by  sup; 
serial  districts.  Experience,  however,  seems  to  show  that  it  is  better 
not  to  adhere  strictly  to  the  geographical  rule,  but  to  strive  to  secure 
persons  of  differing  interests,  social  and  religious.  It  is  necessary 
that  the  unpaid  members  of  the  department  have  the  confidence  of 
the  community,  that  they  represent  varying  viewpoints,  and  that 
they  are  willing  to  give  time  and  counsel  throughout  a  period  of 
years  to  the  problems  of  the  aged,  the  sick,  and  the  infirm,  and  to 
the  special  needs  of  children. 

Three  counties  organized  social-service  commissions  without  in- 
cluding the  supervisors  in  their  membership.  In  two  of  the  three 
counties,  after  a  series  of  misunderstandings  between  supervisors 
and  the  commission,  the  supervisors  reorganized  the  commission  by 
placing  two  of  their  own  members  in  the  group  and  naming  it  "  wel- 
fare department."  The  result  has  been  most  satisfactory  in  both 
cases. 

Of  the  total  of  92  welfare-department  members  in  the  12  counties, 
50  are  men  and  42  are  women;  21  are  supervisors,  of  whom  1  is  a 
woman.  The  71  lay  members  represent  the  following  interests  and 
occupations : 


Women's    organizations 18 

Merchants   10 

Public  officials 5 

Housewives   5 

Social  workers 4 

Roman   Catholic  interests 4 

Physicians    4 

Clergymen   3 

Lawyers   3 


Editors  3 

American  lied  Cross  chapters 3 

Probation    committees 2 

Nurses 2 

Banker   1 

School    principal 1 

Real    estate 1 

Union    labor 1 

Librarian  1 


Once  created  the  department  elects  its  own  chairman  and  effects 
its  own  organization.  In  no  county  thus  far  has  a  supervisor  been 
chairman;  in  three  counties  the  chairmen  are  women.  In  most  of 
the  welfare  departments  the  majority  of  the  members  are  men.  The 
duties  and  powers  of  the  department  are  determined  by  the  ordi- 
nance establishing  it.  In  the  beginning  they  have  usually  been  lim- 
ited to  relief  work — investigation  of  every  application  for  relief, 
periodic  visitation  of  the  persons  receiving  relief,  and  planning  for 
the  rehabilitation  of  such  persons.  To  these  duties  have  been  added 
the  responsibility  for  the  care  of  needy  children  in  the  counties,; 
maintaining  the  standards  of  care  set  by  the  State  board  of  charities 
and  corrections  for  homes  receiving  children  not  with  their  own 


CALIFORNIA. 


63 


parents  on  either  a  free  or  a  pay  basis;  making  initial  investigations 
and  recommendations  for  license  to  the  State  board;  the  local  re- 
sponsibility of  maintaining  at  an  acceptable  standard  homes  with 
minor  children  where  there  is  insufficient  income;  and  the  responsi- 
bility of  recommending  to  the  State  board  of  control  allowances 
of  State  aid  for  needy  children,  of  maintaining  an  adequate  budge! 
in  the  homes  where  a  grant  has  been  made,  and  of  supervising  the 
homes  and  reporting  on  conditions  while  aid  is  being  allowed.  The 
welfare  departments  all  cooperate  with  the  juvenile  courts  of  the 
counties,  and  in  most  of  the  counties  they  place  the  dependent  chil- 
dren for  the  probation  office. 

To  the  responsibility  for  administering  and  standardizing  relief 
work  and  children's  work  is  added  the  responsibility  for  the  health 
activities  of  the  counties.  First,  the  control  of  admissions  to 
and  discharges  from  the  county  hospital  was  given  to  the  welfare 
departments;  gradually  more  responsibility  was  added.  In  one 
county  the  administration  of  all  health  activities,  including  the  county 
hospital,  was  placed  under  the  welfare  department. 

The  following  chart  shows  in  brief  outline  the  duties  of  the  various 
committees  as  they  are  usually  organized  in  the  comity  departments: 


Cominitlee  i.)n 
out-relief. 


Committee  on 
health. 


Committee  on  children's  work. 


Committee  on 
corrections. 


Committee  on 
research. 


Relief  to  the  poor 
in  their  homes. 

Relief     to     the 

blind. 

Cooperation  with 
the  county 
almshouse  au- 
thorities and 
private  charita- 
ble agencies. 
Unemploy- 
ment. 

Cooperation  with 
children's  com- 
mittee in  han- 
dling family 
problems. 


Admission  to 
county  hos- 
pital. 

Care  of  patient 
after  discharge 

Medical  social 
service.  Co- 
operation with 
clinics,  health 
centers,  and 
visiting 
nurses;  also 
with  Federal, 
State,  county, 
and  c  i  t'y 
health  author- 
ities. 


1.  Responsibility  to  State  board 

of  charities  "and  corrections 
for  maintaining  its  stand- 
ards for  care  in  homes  re- 
ceiving children    not    with 
their  parents    on   either    a 
free  or  a  pay  basis. 
(n)  Initial    inspection    and 
recommendations   for 
license. 
(b)  Follow-up     inspections 
and  report  on  homes. 

2.  Local  responsibility  of  main- 

taining at  an  acceptable 
standard  homes  containing 
minor  children  where  there 
is  insufficient  income. 
Placing  dependent  children 
in  boarding  homes  for  the 
j  uvctiile  courts. 

3.  Responsibility  to  Slate  board 

of  control  for  children  eligi- 
ble for  Slate  aid  (.cb 

ent). 
(n)  Recommendal  ions  of  al- 
lowances >r  State  aid 
to  needy  children. 
(h)  Maintenance  of  an  ade- 
quate budget  in  the 
homes     in     winch     a 

(r)  Supervision  of  homes 
While  aid  is  being  al- 
lowed and  report  on 
condil  ions. 

4.  Center    of    information    and 

education    concerning    pos- 
sibilities   of    the    ! 
meeting    the    wants   of  all 
Oi  needs    chil 


Cooperation 
with  juve- 
nile court, 
proba) i  on 
committee, 
city  and 
county  jail 
authorities, 
and  the  po- 
lice. 


Special  studies  or 
surveys  of  con- 
ditions in  tho 
county,  utiliz- 
ing therefor  the 
resources  of 
commis- 
sions, ed  u  c  a- 
tion  il  institu- 
tions, andlocal 
workers. 

Charity  indorse- 
ment. 


64  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

The  support  of  the  welfare  department  comes  in  all  cases  from 
within  the  county;  in  general,  through  an  appropriation  by  the 
board  of  supervisors,  as  a  part  of  the  county  budget.  However,  in 
one  county X1  the  American  Red  Cross  supplements  the  salary  of  the 
secretary  and  pays  for  rent,  light,  heat,  and  telephone  service;  in 
another 12  the  American  Red  Cross  pays  the  salary  of  one  children's 
agent ;  and  in  a  third 13  it  supplies  a  health  nurse. 

In  order  to  meet  local  conditions  in  a  county  Avhere  private  social 
agencies  are  well  organized,  the  Alameda  County  Welfare  Council 
differs  from  the  other  county  welfare  departments.  This  welfare 
council  is  a  supervising  and  standardizing  agency.  The  actual  case 
work  and  distribution  of  relief  is  done  by  the  three  large  private 
agencies  in  the  county — Oakland  Associated  Charities,  Berkeley 
Charity  Organization,  and  Alameda  City  Social  Sendee.  These  are 
called  the  "constituent  agencies  "  of  the  county  welfare  council,  and 
the  members  of  the  council  include  representatives  from  the  direc- 
torates of  these  private  agencies.  The  county  budget  for  relief  and 
social  service  is  allotted  by  the  council  to  the  three  agencies,  and  they 
in  turn  report  monthly  to  the  council. 

The  first  important  step  for  the  newly  organized  welfare  depart- 
ment is  the  choice  of  a  secretary.  A  trained  social  worker  of  tested 
experience  is  chosen  by  the  department  but  is  paid  by  the  super- 
visors. In  most  of  the  counties  the  secretaries  are  women.  The  qual- 
ifications of  this  officer  are  as  important  as  those  of  the  board.  This 
position  requires  training  and  experience  in  social  work;  a  definite 
knowledge  of  records  and  of  office  procedure;  a  wide  sympathy,  a 
sustained  and  abiding  sense  of  humor,  and  ability  to  work  with  other 
count}'  officials,  to  make  adjustments  easily,  and  to  lead  the  com- 
munity— largely  through  the  results  obtained — to  understand  the 
wisdom  and  necessity  of  adequate  relief  and  constructive  social 
work.  This  need  for  trained  secretaries  was  one  of  the  main  reasons 
for  the  establishment  of  a  training  course  for  social  workers  by  the 
department  of  economics  of  the  University  of  California  in  Septem- 
ber, 1920. 

After  a  welfare  department  is  created  the  State  board  of  charities 
and  corrections  suggests  that  the  newly  appointed  secretary  study 
the  methods  of  office  procedure  of  one  of  the  county  welfare  depart- 
ments already  in  operation.  The  department  divides  naturally  into 
committees — children's  work,  health,  and  relief.  The  staff  is  organ- 
ized along  the  lines  of  the  committee  work.  Two  of  the  smaller 
counties  have  a  secretary  with  no  assistants,  and  four  counties  have 

11  Merced.  "  Alameda.  13  Stanislaus. 


CALIFORNIA.  65 

a  secretary  and  a  stenographer;  in  the  smaller  counties  the  American 
Red  Cross  cooperates  very  closely  with  the  department  and  supple- 
ments its  work. 

It  is  the  policy  of  the  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections  to 
suggest  that  the  counties  begin  with  a  small  force  and  let  the  work 
justify  an  increase  in  staff,  and  the  short  experience  of  four  years 
has  shown  a  gradual  and  necessary  increase.  First,  a  nurse  is  added ; 
then  a  stenographer,  where  the  need  warrants  it.  Salary  increases 
follow  recognized  service.  So  far,  no  county  has  paid  its  secretary 
a  salary  higher  than  $2,400  a  year.  One  county,14  which  started  in 
January,  1918,  with  a  secretary  and  one  agent,  now  has  a  staff  of  six, 
with  three  automobiles  in  constant  service.  Recently  the  supervisors 
have  placed  the  administration  of  the  entire  health  service  of  Fresno 
County,  including  the  county  hospital,  under  the  welfare  department. 

In  seven  counties  the  office  of  the  department  is  in  the  county 
courthouse ;  in  two  it  is  in  the  hall  of  records ;  one  department  rents 
offices  near  the  courthouse;  and  two  have  converted  dwellings  into 
very  satisfactory  offices. 

Transportation  is  arranged  for  in  various  ways,  from  sharing  the 
use  of  an  automobile  with  the  probation  officer  or  hiring  one  when 
needed  to  the  purchase  or  donation  of  one  or  more  machines.  One 
department,  in  addition  to  the  automobile  supplied  by  the  county,  is 
allowed  mileage.  The  constituent  agencies  of  the  Alameda  County 
Welfare  Council  own  or  use  six  machines. 

All  the  departments  meet  at  least  once  a  month ;  three  meet  twice  a 
month.  They  all  meet  at  stated  times,  the  plan  being  to  have  the 
welfare  department  meeting  immediately  before  the  regular  meeting 
of  the  supervisors.  At  the  department  meeting  the  secretary's  report 
and  claims  for  relief  are  considered;  the  committees  make  their  re- 
ports new  cases  are  considered  and  old  cases  are  closed.  When  claims 
have  been  approved  by  the  department  they  are  taken  by  the  secretary 
to  the  meeting  of  the  board  of  supervisors  in  the  form  of  a  financial 
report  for  final  approval  and  action. 

14  Fresno. 


PROVISION   FOR   NEEDY    CHILDREN    UNDER   THE   COUNTY 
WELFARE  DEPARTMENT. 

The  most  constructive  phase  of  work  the  county  welfare  depart- 
ment has  is  the  work  for  children.  Its  possibilities  for  usefulness 
in  this  field  are  unlimited.  The  work  for  children  is  placed,  not  in 
a  separate  children's  bureau,  but  with  the  family  relief  work,  because 
the  State  board  believes  that  the  basis  of  all  children's  work  should 
be  the  family.  The  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections  is  given 
the  responsibility,  by  law,  of  licensing  all  homes  receiving  children 
not  with  their  parents,  including  free  homes  as  well  as  boarding 
homes.15  Any  place  conducted  as  a  boarding  home  for  children 
must  be  licensed,  and  the  standards  of  the  State  board  must  be  en- 
forced by  frequent  and  intelligent  supervision. 

It  is  the  policy  of  the  State  board  to  intrust  the  work  of  selecting 
suitable  boarding  homes  and  of  visiting  and  supervising  them  to  the 
local  welfare  departments,  as  soon  as  these  departments  are  prepared 
to  assume  this  responsibility.  Accordingly,  after  a  county  welfare 
department  has  been  in  operation  for  some  time,  a  representative  of 
the  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections  goes  to  the  department 
with  the  board's  printed  standards  of  child  care  and  the  State  laws 
affecting  children,  and  puts  the  secretary  in  possession  of  the  infor- 
mation necessary  to  a  discriminating  choice  among  the  various  State 
and  private  institutions  and  homes  for  the  placement  of  children. 
The  representative  of  the  State  board  helps  in  the  establishment  of 
the  Hies  and  records,  and  visits  with  the  secretary  all  family  boarding- 
homes  in  the  county.  Problem  cases  are  discussed,  and  plans  made 
regarding  them.  The  board's  agents  return  to  the  counties  at  fre- 
quent intervals  to  check  up  the  local  children's  work  of  the  welfare 
department,  to  see  that  the  homes  are  up  to  standard,  and  to  help 
with   difficult  decisions. 

The  departments  record  their  inspections  of  homes  on  a  form  pro- 
vided by  the  State  board,  and  a  report  of  the  children's  work  of  the 
county  welfare  department  goes  every  month  to  the  children's  com- 
mittee of  the  board,  which  keeps  a  complete  file  of  all  family  board- 
ing homes  in  California.    The  form  of  report  is  shown  herewith : 

FORM  OF  REPORT  TO  STATE  BOARD  OF  CHARITIES  AND  CORREC- 
TIONS FROM  LOCAL  AGENCY  SUPERVISING  FAMILY  BOARDING 
HOMES. 

Name  of  agency Date 

Number  of  active  homes  on  first  of  month 

Number  of  homes  inactive  during  month 

Number  of  licenses  relinquished 

Number  of  licenses  revoked 

15  Calif.  Stat.  1913,  p.  73. 
66 


CALIFORNIA.  G7 

Number  of  applicants  during  mouth 

Number  pending  action 

Number  voluntarily  withdrawn 

Number  denied 

Number  recommended 

Total  active  homes  during  mouth 

Total  active  homes  at  end  of  month 

Number  of  active  homes 

Number  of  children  in  active  homes 

Number  of  visits  made 

Number  of  homes  visited  : 

City 

Country 

Number  of  homes  not  visited: 

City 

Country 

Signed  

To  report  submitted  by  local  agencies  supervising  family  boarding  homes 
should  be  attached  : 

1.  List    of    homes    recommended    for    licenses:    (a)    State    application    blanks. 

(b)   State  inspection  blanks  with  recommendations. 

2.  List  of  homes  which  have  been  denied  permits. 

3.  List    of    homes    which   have   relinquished    licenses:    (or)    Licenses    (State). 

(6)  Registers  (State). 

4.  List  of  homes  which  have  .had  permits  revoked:   (a)  Licenses  (State).     (?>) 

Registers  (State). 

The  organization  of  the  work  for  children  under  a  county  welfare 
department  is  effected  step  by  step.  At  first  the  department  is  lim- 
ited to  follow-up  visits  and  reports  on  family  boarding  homes  after 
the  initial  inspection  has  been  made  by  the  State  board.  Later,  when 
the  county  welfare  department  has  been  tested  by  experience,  more 
power  is  delegated  to  it  by  the  board.  Nine  established  departments 
are  now  authorized  to  make  the  initial  inspection  of  family  boai  d- 
ing  homes,  to  make  the  subsequent  inspections,  and  to  report  monthly 
to  the  board.  On  their  recommendation  the  State  board  of  charities 
and  corrections  "rants  and  revokes  licenses.  The  three  departments 
last  formed  are  in  process  of  organizing-  their  children's  work,  and 
agents  from  the  State  board  are  in  these  counties  helping  them  to 
standardize  it. 

At  intervals  a  "child-welfare  letter"  in  mimeographed  form  goes 
to  each  w7elfare  department  from  the  children's  committee  of  the 
State  board,  giving  news  of  the  progress  in  the  children's  work  in 
the  State  and  the  counties,  and  frequently  quoting  from  op:: 
the  attorney  general  in  legal  matters  Delating  to  child  care  Lte 
purpose  is  to  give  definite  help  in  the  children's  work  of  the  welfare 
departments,  just  as  the  "county  welfare  letter"  gives  information 
concerning  progress  in  county  organization.  The  letter  which  fol- 
lows is  a  typical  one. 


68  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

Static  I'.oakd  of  CHARITIES  and  COBBECTIONS, 

children's  1  mcpaittment. 

Child  Weu  abe  Letteb  No.  1. 

The  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections,  through  its  children's  depart- 
ment, plans  to  send  out  from  time  to  time  a  "child  welfare  news-letter"  to  the 
institutions,  agencies,  and  individuals  engaged  in  the  work  of  caring  for  needy 
aud  wayward  children.  The  purpose  of  this  bulletin  is  to  report  briefly  notable 
happenings  and  developments  in  child  care,  to  serve  as  a  clearing  house  for 
the  exchange  of  ideas,  and  to  answer  questions  bearing  on  the  care  of  depend- 
ent children  in  California.  We  want  this  letter  to  be  informing  and  interest- 
ing.    Any  suggestions  or  items  which  help  to  make  it  so  will  be  appreciated. 

General. — The  University  of  California  Extension  Division  announces  a  lec- 
ture   tour    throughout    California,    in    the   interest   of   the   health   of   children 

*  *     * 

The  State  board  of  charities  has  been  asked  to  resume  the  regular  quarterly 
child  welfare  conferences  which  were  discontinued  during  the  war.  The  first 
of  the  new  series  of  conferences  will  be  held  at  an  early  date,  the  northern 
section  in  San  Francisco  and  the  southern  section  in  Los  Angeles.  Details  will 
be  announced  in  the  next  issue  of  this  letter.  We  should  be  glad  to  receive 
suggestions  of  topics  for  discussion  at  these  conferences. 

The    interesting    film    "Motherhood "    is    available    for    free    circularization 

*  *     *_ 

A  council  of  social  and  health  agencies,  representing  98  organizations,  has 
been  formed  in  San  Francisco. 

Institutions. — Within  the  past  year,  by  virtue  of  an  opinion  of  the  attorney 
general  of  California,  a  new  group  of  institutions  has  come  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  State  board  of  charities.  The  attorney  general  rules  that  all  in- 
stitutions caring  for  children  up  to  the  age  of  majority  are  subject  to  the 
license  of  this  board.  The  new  group  includes  the  George  Junior  Republic, 
Chino ;  the  California  Girls'  Training  Home,  Alameda ;  St.  Catherine's  Home, 
San  Francisco ;  and  the  Convent  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  Los  Angeles. 

Another  new  group  asking  for  State  license  includes  preventoria  and  homes 
for  convalescent  children.  Hill  Farm  in  Marin  County,  St.  Dorothy's  Rest  at 
Guerneville,  Sonoma  County,  and  the  Stanford  Home  for  Convalescent  Chil- 
dren at  Stanford  University  are  splendid  examples  of  this  type  of  child  care. 

Mother  Vabrini  Preventorium. — A  country  home  for  anemic  children  and 
those  predisposed  to  tuberculosis  has  been  opened  at  Burbank,  Los  Angeles 
County,  by  the  Missionary  Sisters  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  The  children  will  re- 
ceive a  medical  examination  prior  to  admission  and  will  be  under  the  care  of 
a  tuberculosis  expert  while  in  the  home. 

A  new  building  and  many  other  splendid  improvements  are  progressing 
rapidly  at  the  Boys'  and  Girls'  Industrial  Home  and  Farm  at  Liitton.  The 
story  of  the  fire  in  April,  which  destroyed  the  administration  building  and  the 
girls'  quarters,  is  a  proud  record  of  efficient  organization  and  undaunted 
spirit.  While  the  fire  was  still  burning  provision  was  made  for  the  feeding 
and  housing  of  the  children.  The  boys  turned  over  their  quarters  to  the  girls 
and  made  a  lark  of  sleeping  in  the  newly  erected  cow  barn.  Within  twenty-four 
hours  a  "  tent  city  "  had  sprung  up  and  the  institution  was  functioning  with 
remarkable  smoothness.  The  regard  which  the  community  has  for  Lytton  was 
demonstrated  by  the  prompt  and  generous  help  which  was  rendered.  The 
summer  has  been  a  busy  one,  and  the  accomplishments  have  been  many. 

October  3rd  marked  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone  of  the  new  home  of  the 
Pacific  lit  brew  Orphan   Asylum.     The  site  of  13  acres  is  attractively  located 


CALIFORNIA.  69 

on  Ocean  Avenue  in  San  Francisco  adjoining  a  very  desirable  residential 
section.  The  plan  contemplates  a  group  of  nine  buildings.  The  cottages  are 
of  two  general  types,  two  stories  in  height,  and  will  house  20  children  each, 
10  boys  and  10  girls.  The  interesting  features  of  this  new  departure  in  child 
care  are  too  numerous  to  mention  here.  The  forward-looking  spirit  which 
animates  the  group  responsible  for  this  institution  justifies  the  expectation 
of  worth-while  achievement. 

Chief  Agent,  Children's  Department. 
November,  1920. 

There  is  a  growing  understanding  in  California  of  the  needs  of 
children.  The  legislature  of  1919 18  raised  to  $10  per  month  the 
amount  of  State  aid  to  orphans,  half  orphans,  and  abandoned  chil- 
dren. The  last  legislature 19  raised  to  16  years  the  age  of  eligibility 
for  this  aid,  and  made  eligible  the  child  or  children  of  a  father  in- 
capacitated for  gainful  work  by  permanent  physical  disability  or 
by  tuberculosis ;  it  increased  the  aid  for  foundlings  to  $15  per  month 
until  they  reach  2  years  of  age  or  are  placed  for  adoption. 

The  county  welfare  departments  share  in  this  growing  apprecia- 
tion of  the  needs  of  children.  This  understanding  is  gradually 
shared  by  the  community  and  gives  that  basis  of  public  opinion 
which  enables  the  supervisors  to  make  adequate  provision  in  their 
budget  for  the  relief  of  needy  children.  The  county  welfare  depart- 
ments are  becoming  more  generous  in  their  support  of  such  children. 
The  California  statutes  permit  the  county  to  give  $20  a  month  for 
the  support  of  a  dependent  child,  whether  he  be  cared  for  in  his 
own  home,  in  a  family  home  not  his  own,  or  in  an  institution.20  The 
lowest  rate  given  by  any  welfare  department  is  $15  per  month;  most 
departments  give  $20  a  month  and  supplement  this  amount  from 
outside  sources. 

A  study  of  eight  county  welfare  departments  shows  that  the 
monthly  amounts,  per  child,  given  by  them,  were  as  follows:  One, 
$15;  one,  $15  to  $20;  two,  $17.50  to  $20;  two,  $20;  one,  $20  to  $35; 
and  one,  $25. 

The  welfare  department  in  its  many  contacts  draws  to  its  aid  all 
the  available  help  in  the  community.  The  county  chapters  of  the 
American  l\ed  Cross  are  generous  in  their  aid  in  the  care  of  children. 
They  give  milk,  clothing,  and  facilities  for  recreation,  and  in  some 
counties  provide  clinics  for  dental  and  medical  care.  The  Needle- 
work Guild  of  America  and  the  county  tuberculosis  associations  sup- 
plement the  work  of  the  departments,  and  cooperation  is  established 
with  local  dispensaries,  baby  hospitals,  clubs,  churches,  and  health 
centers.  The  county  welfare  departments  are  working  closely  with 
the  probation  officers,  and  in  many  of  the  counties  needy  children 


18  Calif.  Stat.  1919,  p.  473. 

19  Calif.  Pol.  Code,  sec.  22S9,  as  amended  by  Stat.  1921,  p.   1689. 

20  Juvenile  court  law,  Calif.  Stat.  1919,  p.  476. 


70  COUNTY    ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILI)   CARE. 

are  turned  over  by  the  juvenile  court  to  the  welfare  departments  for 
placement. 

Through  the  power  of  its  organization,  its  represents ive  mem- 
bership, and  its  official  relationships,  l>oth  State  and  county,  the  wel- 
fare department  is  able  to  care  for  needy  children  according  to  a 
standard  comparable  with  the  best  work  of  the  best  private  agencies 
caring  for  children. 

SUCCESS  OF  THE  COUNTY   WELFARE  DEPARTMENT   PLAN. 

The  county  welfare  department  plan  has  been  tested  for  four 
years  in  California.  It  is  proving  successful.  Unorganized  counties 
are  increasingly  making  requests  for  surveys  by  the  State  board  of 
charities  and  corrections,  and  in  the  already  organized  counties  more 
and  more  responsibility  is  being  delegated  to  the  department  by 
the  supervisors.  The  welfare  departments  are  working  under  the 
standards  of  the  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections  on  a  pro- 
gram of  child  care  based  on  adequate  food  of  the  proper  kind ;  intel- 
ligent medical  guidance  and  nursing  care;  properly  supervised  rec- 
reation ;  and  special  provision  for  education  and  vocational  oppor- 
tunities for  all  needy  children.  The  responsibility  for  child  care 
in  the  county  is  placed  definitely  in  the  hands  of  the  children's 
committee  of  the  department. 

The  San  Bernardino  Welfare  Commission  has  a  broad  constructive 
policy  in  its  work  for  children.  In  the  second  year  of  its  existence 
it  was  successful  in  closing  the  county  orphanage,  which  had  not 
been  a  credit  to  the  county.  The  children  were  placed  in  private 
homes  under  the  general  supervision  of  a  nurse  and  social  worker. 
This  not  only  saved  money  for  the  county  taxpayers  but  was  of  un- 
told value  to  the  children,  who  are  now  receiving  home  care  and 
have  a  chance  to  develop  normally. 

The  Fresno  County  Welfare  Department  is  working  along  the  same 
modern  lines  in  its  children's  work.  During  its  first  year  it,  too,  was 
instrumental  in  closing  the  county  orphanage  and  placing  the  chil- 
dren in  private  family  homes.  Many  of  the  children  in  the  orphan- 
age were  not  entirely  dependent,  and  it  was  found  possible  to  place 
these  with  their  own  relatives. 

The  Humboldt  County  Welfare  Department  made  a  study  of  the 
homeless  children  of  the  county.  It  has  developed  a  county  dental- 
clinic  and  a  general  children's  clinic,  and  it  works  closely  with  the 
public  health  nurse,  who  is  employed  by  the  American  Red  Cross  in 
the  county  seat.  This  department  was  aLso  instrumental  in  the  im- 
provement of  public  recreation  facilities  for  young  people  in  the 
county;  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  assisted  in  estab- 
lishing a  recreation  center  in  Eureka. 


CALIFORNIA.  71 

Each  county  welfare  department  has  its  own  record  of  progress  in 
work  for  children  and  in  family  relief  work.  More  and  more  chil- 
dren are  placed  in  well-supervised  family  boarding  homes  near  at 
hand  instead  of  in  distant  institutions,  and  the  community  is  coming 
to  assume  its  responsibility  in  the  actual  care  of  its  less  favored 
members.  More  and  more  are  the  welfare  departments  creating 
clinical  opportunities  for  the  medical  care  of  dependent  children  and 
families;  more  and  more  are  they  availing  themselves  of  the  medical 
service  offered  by  the  universities  of  the  State. 

The  county  welfare  departments  are' giving  more  efficient  service 
than  was  rendered  under  the  old  system,  and  are  undertaking  not  only 
remedial  service  but  preventive  work  for  children  as  well.  At  the 
same  time  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  the  welfare  department 
saves  the  county  money.  Reports  of  county  auditors  show  the  fol- 
lowing savings  through  the  county  welfare  departments: 

County.  Amount.  Period. 

Fresno $20,129.97  First  year. 

San  Bernardino 20,013.30  First  two  years. 

San  Mateo 6,476.72  First  two  years. 

Sonoma 11,  245.72  First  two  years. 

Humboldt 4,  84S.  00  First  six  months. 

These  reports  show  that  five  counties,  the  first  to  organize  welfare 
departments,  have  saved  thereby  in  less  than  two  years  the  sum  of 
$63,313.71. 

The  supervisors  are  approving  the  county  welfare  department  plan. 
Although  the  initiative  for  organization  has  never  come  from  them, 
after  a  department  is  in  operation  the  supervisors  have  in  all  cases 
expressed  themselves  as  pleased  with  the  results.  They  are  especially 
glad  to  be  relieved  of  the  burden  of  doling  out  relief:  they  are  also 
pleased  with  the  saving  in  money  and  with  the  favorable  reports  on 
the  work  from  State  agencies.  The  community  is  satisfied  because 
the  social  work  of  the  county  is  administered  with  standards  as  high 
as  those  of  private  charitable  organizations. 

As  stated  in  the  beginning  of  this  paper,  the  various  phases  of 
social  work  form  parts  of  one  related  problem.  Tl  seems  logical  arid 
wise  that  the  community,  in  attempting  to  solve  this  problem,  should 
intrust  it  in  its  entirety  to  one  representative  agency.  Such  an 
agency  is  the  welfare  department.  In  its  practical  working  it  has  jus- 
tified the  theory  upon  which  it  is  founded.  It  originates  in  the  com- 
munity whence  it  derives  administrative,  financial,  and  social  author- 
ity; it  acts  for  the  community  in  behalf  of  all  those  who  need  the 
community's  support. 


COUNTY  ORGANIZATION  FOR  CHILD  WELFARE  IN  THE 
STATE  OF  NEW  JERSEY.1 

Mrs.  Cornelia  B.  Mettrott, 

Assistant  Director,   Division   of  Parole  and   Domestic   Relations,   New   Jersey 
Department  of  Institutions  and    igendes. 

CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  STATE. 

A  clear  understanding  of  the  status  of  the  various  counties  of  New 
Jersey  with  respect  to  organization  for  social-welfare  work  requires 
a  knowledge  of  certain  outstanding  facts  as  to  their  general  charac- 
teristics. The  counties,  21  in  all,  differ  widely  in  respect  to  area, 
distribution  of  population,  and  economic  conditions.  As  a  result 
there  is  considerable  variation  with  respect  to  the  type  of  organiza- 
tion most  likely  to  function  successfully  on  a  county  basis. 

General  character  of  the  counties. 

Three  small  urban  counties  and  part  of  a  fourth  are  in  the  great 
metropolitan  district  adjacent  to  the  city  of  New  York.  Within 
their  combined  area  of  approximately  400  square  miles  is  gathered  a 
population  of  more  than  1,500,000.  Some  of  the  larger  rural  counties 
have  about  the  same  area  and  a  population  of  not  more  than  75,000, 
and  sometimes  of  only  25,000  to  40,000.  Other  counties,  like  Mon- 
mouth and  Mercer,  are  partly  urban  in  character,  with  total  popula- 
tions of  105,000  to  100,000,  centered  for  the  most  part  in  one  or  more 
small  cities  and  a  number  of  boroughs. 

The  distinctly  rural  counties  and  the  rural  portions  of  other  coun- 
ties vary  widely  in  many  respects.  Some  are  prosperous  agricul- 
tural communities.  Others  embrace  great  stretches  of  waste  land, 
more  or  less  inaccessible.  Tn  the  northern  counties  are  areas  of 
wooded  or  rugged  hills.  Near  the  lower  border  of  the  State  miles 
and  miles  of  pine  swamp  and  sand  follow  the  coast  line  and  at  some 
points  extend  far  inland.  Tn  New  Jersey,  therefore,  are  found  the 
social  and  economic  problems  of  remote,  sparsely  settled,  unproduc- 
tive districts,  and  also  all  of  the  conditions  ordinarily  present  in 
farm  communities  and  in  congested  city  districts.  Within  the  hol- 
ders of  certain  counties,  notably  in  Monmouth  County,  all  of  these 
various  conditions  are  present. 


1  This  manuscript  was  completed  in  April,  1922. 

111532°— 22 0  73 


74  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

Civic  organization. 

Political  and  civic  organization  for  the  counties  of  New  Jersey 
centers  in  the  county  courts,  the  county  board  of  freeholders,  and 
the  county  school  administration.  The  political  parties  of  the  State 
and  state- wide  organizations  of  more  or  less  civic  type,  such  as  the 
war-time  council  of  national  defense,  are  grouped  about  county 
committees. 

The  judges  of  county  courts  are  appointed  by  the  governor.  Ex- 
cept in  counties  of  the  first  class — i.  e.,  the  two  urban  counties  of 
Essex  and  Hudson — the  judge  of  the  court  of  common  pleas  is  the 
one  representative  of  legal  authority  in  the  county.  The  members 
of  the  board  of  freeholders  are  elected  by  the  people  to  control  the 
expenditure  of  money  raised  by  taxation  for  the  benefit  of  various 
county  projects — such  as  county  institutions,  roads,  and  bridges.  The 
county  superintendent  of  schools  is  appointed  by  the  State  board  of 
education  for  a  three-year  term.  His  chief  functions  are  to  ad- 
minister school  funds  apportioned  by  the  State  from  general  school 
funds  provided  by  revenues,  and  to  maintain  the  educational  stan- 
dards which  are  required  of  schools  participating  in  these  benefits. 
The  actual  conduct  of  local  school  matters  is  in  the  hands  of  local 
boards  of  education.  These  are  elected  in  all  townships  and  bor- 
oughs, but  are  appointed  in  certain  cities. 

The  office  of  county  adjuster  has  recently  been  established  by  law 
for  all  counties,  so  that  there  will  be  in  each  a  qualified  person  whose 
business  it  is  to  supervise  all  matters  connected  with  the  commitment 
of  the  insane,  the  tubercular,  the  epileptic,  and  the  feeble-minded  to 
State,  county,  and  private  institutions;  to  establish  the  legal  settle- 
ment of  patients ;  to  look  after  the  guardianship  of , patients ;  and  to 
perform  other  related  work  as  required. 

Any  social  project  or  problem  involving  the  welfare  or  protection 
of  children  should  naturally  be  the  common  concern  of  the  judge, 
the  superintendent  of  schools,  and  the  county  adjuster.  Through 
these  officials  and  the  welfare  agency,  when  there  is  one,  the  contact 
of  State  departments  with  local  and  county  child  problems  is  neces- 
sarily established. 

In  addition  to  the  usual  officers  connected  with  the  courts,  the 
county  board  of  freeholders,  and  the  school  systems,  there  are  in  cer- 
tain counties  various  special  officers  or  boards  appointed  under  per- 
missive acts  of  the  legislature.  The  probation  officer,  the  county  at- 
tendance officer,  and  the  helping  teacher  represent  this  group.  These 
offices  are  filled  by  special  request,  and  usually  upon  the  fulfillment 
of  certain  conditions  by  the  community.  Appointments  are  made 
by  the  head  of  the  State  department  to  which  the  office  is  most  closely 
allied,  except  in  the  case  of  the  probation  office,  which  is  under  the 


NEW   JERSEY.  75 

immediate  jurisdiction  of  the  county  court.  Salaries  are  paid,  how- 
ever, from  the  general  funds  available  to  the  county  from  State 
revenues.  The  work  of  the  "county  helping  teachers"  and  of  the 
county  attendance  officer,  for  instance,  is  in  close  relation  to  the. 
program  of  the  State  department  of  education  for  the  development 
of  the  rural  schools.  They  are  appointed,  and  the  amount  of  their 
salary  is  fixed  by  the  State  commissioner  of  education;  but  they  work 
under  the  immediate  direction  of  the  county  superintendent,  and 
are  paid  from  the  general  school  funds  appropriated  to  the  respec- 
tive counties  from  State  revenues. 

STATE  AND    LOCAL   PROVISION    FOR   CHILD    WELFARE. 

In  the  State  organization  no  one  department  is  assigned  to  handle 
all  the  problems  of  child  welfare.  Certain  phases  of  this  work  are 
primarily  the  interest  of  the  department  of  education;  others  are  the 
concern  of  the  department  of  labor,  the  department  of  institutions 
and  agencies,  or  the  department  of  health.  In  the  department  of 
institutions  and  agencies  responsibility  for  child  welfare  is  divided 
between  the  division  of  parole  and  domestic  relations  and  the  State 
board  of  children's  guardians. 

•  The  most  direct  contact  with  local  agencies  and  private  institutions 
is  through  the  division  of  parole  and  domestic  relations.  The  policy 
to  which  this  division  is  committed  is  to  encourage  the  highest  stand- 
ard possible  for  all  juvenile  court  and  probation  work,  to  bring  about 
an  increase  in  the  number  of  separate  juvenile  courts,  and  to  secure 
the  very  best  kind  of  cooperation  between  the  courts,  the  community, 
and  the  local  agencies  on  the  one  hand  and  the  State  institutions  and 
agencies  on  the  other.  This  is  essential  if  duplication  and  waste  of 
effort  are  to  be  eliminated ;  for  whatever  the  State  may  be  able  to  do 
for  an  individual  must  be  supplemented  in  the  community  to  which 
he  returns,  if  the  good  result  is  to  be  permanent. 

Commitment  of  a  juvenile  (boy  under  16,  girl  under  18)  to  a  State 
institution  for  delinquents  is  for  (he  period  of  minority,  bat  the  child 
may  be  released  upon  parole  at  the  discretion  of  the  board  of  man- 
agers. When  so  released  he  comes  immediately  under  the  supervision 
of  the  central  parole  bureau  of  the  State  department  of  institutions 
and  agencies.  No  child  is  released  by  the  bo;ird  of  managers  until  the 
home  environment  has  been  investigated  by  the  parole  bureau.  Em- 
ployment considered  suitable  for  the  individual  or,  if  he  is  of  school 
age,  adjustment  of  his  school  relations  must  be  guaranteed  by  the 
parole  bureau  before  he  is  released.  After  release  be  vs  eareiully 
followed  and,  if  necessary,  returned  to  the  institution  by  the  parole 
bureau.  In  a  great  many  instances  suitable  placement  in  a  foster 
home  is  made  instead  of  returning  the  child  to  the  environment  whicb 
caused  his  delinquencies. 


76  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

The  most  important  points  of  contact  between  the  State  institutions 
and  agencies  and  the  county  and  local  agencies  are  in  the  work  of 
investigation  (which  is  begun  on  admission  to  an  institution  and 
continued  at  time  of  parole)  and  in  the  problems  of  placement  and 
supers  ision  on  parole.  The  staff  of  the  central  bureau  is  inadequate 
to  carry  on  successfully  all  of  this  field  work.  Through  correspond- 
ence and  by  coordinating  the  work  of  the  district  field  officer  of  the 
parole  bureau  with  that  of  local  agencies  it  may,  however,  be  pos- 
sible to  meet  the  situation  fairly  well.  Cooperation  of  this  type  is 
found  at  its  best  in  Essex,  Monmouth,  Atlantic,  and  Mercer  Counties. 

All  institutions  and  agencies,  both  public  and  private,  which  have 
to  do  with  the  care  of  dependent,  defective,  or  delinquent  children  are 
subject  to  inspection  by  the  New  Jersey  Department  of  Institutions 
and  Agencies.  A  certificate  of  indorsement  is  issued  at  the  discre- 
tion of  the  State  commissioner  of  institutions  and  agencies.  It  is 
customary  with  the  commissioner  to  refuse  indorsement  if  the  general 
standard  acceptable  to  the  department  is  not  met.1 

Many  city  and  county  institutions  and  several  state-wide  child- 
caring  societies  are  doing  good  work  in  caring  for  neglected  children. 
It  is,  perhaps,  fair  to  say  that  the  child  whose  need  is  brought  to  the 

1  The  State  board,  the  commissioner,  and  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  various  divisions 
enumerated  in  section  109  hereof,  from  time  to<  time  designated  or  created,  and  at  such 
time  so  designated,  in  pursuance  of  powers  vested  in  the  State  board  by  said  section  109, 
which  designation  in  form  of  resolution  of  the  State  board  shall  be  filed  with  the  secretary 
of  state,  and  such  designation  when  so  filed  shall  be  deemed  to  be  due  notice  thereof, 
shall  have  full  power  to  compel  the  attendance  of  witnesses,  to  administer  oaths,  to 
examine  such  persons  as  may  be  necessary  or  expedient,  to  investigate,  or  cause  to  be 
investigated,  the  record,  health,  ability,  and  character  previous  to  admission  or  commit- 
ment and  during  the  period  of  treatment  or  imprisonment  of  each  and  every  patient, 
ward,  or  inmate  admitted,  received  or  committed  to  any  institution  subject  to  the 
examination,  supervision  or  jurisdiction  of  the  State  board,  and  on  complaint  of  any 
person  or  upon  its  own  initiative  investigate  the  treatment  or  care  of  inmates  and  the 
conduct  or  management  of  any  such  institution.  It  shall  also  be  tie  duty  of  the  said 
State  board  to  establish  a  uniform  system  of  records,  reports,  statistics,  memoranda, 
data  identifying  and  relating  to  persons  admitted  or  received  in  any  charitable  institu- 
tion and  of  persons  convicted  of  crime  and  offenses  punishable  by  imprisonment  in  any 
of  the  correctional  institutions  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State  board  of  institu- 
tions and  agencies,  and  to  make  recommendations  from  time  to  time  to  the  courts  having 
jurisdiction  therein  or  with;  respect  thereto,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  courts  or 
judicial  officers  having  jurisdiction  to  more  uniformly  and  effectively  admit  or  commit 
persons,  or  impose  sentences  upon  persons  subject  thereto.  All  persons  summoned  by  the 
State  board,  the  commissioner  of  institutions  and  agencies,  or  one  of  the  division  chiefs 
appointed  by  the  State  board,  as  provided  in.  this  section,  shall  receive,  for  attendance 
before  the  board,  or  such  officer  issuing  such  summons,  the  like  witness  fees  and  mileage 
as  are  now  allowed  to  persons  summoned  to  testify  in  the  courts  of  this  State,  and  the 
treasurer  of  this  State  is  hereby  authorized  and  directed  to  pay,  upon  the  warrant  of 
the  comptroller,  such  fees  and  compensation  as  may  be  certified  as  correct  by  the  com- 
missioner, out  of  the  maintenance  fund  of  such  department.  All  persons  refusing  to 
obey  any  such  summons  may  be,  on  application  to  the  common  pleas  judge  of  the  county 
in  which  such  hearing  is  to  be  held,,  brought  before  any  judge  of  such  court  of  common 
pleas  in  such  county,  and  required  to  answer  for  his  refusal  to  obey  such  summons. 
Such  hearing  shall  be  conducted  in  a  summary  manner  and,  in  the  discretion  of  the  said 
judge,  the  said  person  may  be  held  in  contempt  of  court  for  bis  refusal  or  willful  neglect 
of  such  summons-.  The  person  may  purge  himself  of  any  such  contempt  on  such  terms 
as  the  court  or  judge  may  impose  to  effectuate  or  accomplish  the  purpose  of  this  act. 
(N.  J.  Acts  1918,  ch.  147,  200  (b),  as  added  by  Acts  1919,  ch.  139.) 


NEW   JERSEY.  77 

attention  of  public  authorities  or  properly  recognized  agencies  is 
very  likely  to  receive  suitable  care.  But  children  whoso  fathers  have 
deserted  or  have  been  divorced,  children  of  unemployed  and  desti- 
tute parents  too  proud  to  apply  for  relief,  children  whose  mothers 
are  employed  and  those  whose  mothers  are  dead,  are  often  placed 
by  relatives  or  friends  in  unauthorized  so-called  boarding  homes 
whose  existence  may  not  at  once  be  discovered.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances abuses  may  arise. 

Dependent  children  from  other  States  may  not  be  placed  out  in 
New  Jersey  except  in  compliance  with  section  C46  of  chapter  147 
of  the  Laws  of  1918,  which  provides  for  a  license  and  bond,  and  for- 
bids importation  of  children  who  are  incorrigible  or  of  unsound  mind 
or  body.  The  situation  of  New  Jersey  between  two  great  cities  makes 
the  problem  of  controlling  the  importation  of  children  an  important 
one. 

The  child-wTelfare  act  passed  in  1915  is  a  very  comprehensive 
statute.  In  its  definition  of  "  abandonment,  cruelty,  neglect,  and 
improper  guardianship  "  is  covered  every  conceivable  parental  sin  of 
commission  or  omission.  The  statute  provides  penalties  for  the  de- 
linquent parent  and  suitable  guardianship  for  the  child.  However, 
before  the  provisions  of  this  act  can  be  brought  to  bear  on  a  given 
case,  a  person  willing  to  make  the  initial  complaint  must  be  found, 
and  that  is  often  very  difficult,  because  the  persons 'most  likely  to  be 
in  possession  of  the  facts — relatives  or  neighbors — are  the  least  will- 
ing to  initiate  action  or  give  evidence.  No  public  agency  is  charged 
with  the  enforcement  of  proceedings  against  neglectful  and  delin- 
quent parents  and  guardians  under  the  act;  both  public  and  private 
agencies  do,  however,  avail  themselves  of  its  provisions  when  fla- 
grant cases  are  brought  to  their  attention. 

Provision  for  the  welfare  of  widows  and  their  children  and  for 
dependent  children  brought  before  the  courts  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
State  board  of  children's  guardians,  under  direction  of  the  State 
board  of  control  of  institutions  and  agencies.  An  "act  to  promote 
home  life  for  dependent  children"  was  passed  in  1913  and  has  been 
several  times  amended.  The  work  of  this  board  in  administering 
widows'  pensions,  and  in  placing  and  supervising  children  who  have 
been  committed  to  its  care  by  the  courts  because  of  improper  guar- 
dianship in  the  home  or  for  other  reasons,  has  been  the  outstanding 
feature  of  New  Jersey's  welfare  program.  Over  10,000  children 
have  been  in  the  care  of  the  board.  It  maintains  no  institution. 
The  law  provides  that  children  shall  be  kept  only  temporarily  in 
"receiving  homes"  or  in  almshouses,  and  must  lie  suitably  placed  in 
supervised  boarding  homes  or  with  private  families  within  a  limited 
time.     Applications  for  pensions  are  heard  in  the  county  courts; 


78  COl  EtGANJZATIOM    FOB   CHILD   OARE. 

when  pensions  are  granted  they  are  a  charge  upon  the  county  hut 
are  administe  w  the  central  office. 

There  is  need  of  greater  clearness  as  to  the  scope  and  functions  of 
the  State  board  of  children's  guardians.  It  is  the  practice  of  the 
board  to  receive  children  into  its  care  upon  commitment  only.  There 
is,  however,  great  need  for  some  agency  to  take  the  initiative  in  seeing 
that  a  dependent  child  is  placed  without  delay  under  proper  guar- 
dianship. 

SPECIAL  ACHIEVEMENTS  IN  CERTAIN   COUNTIES. 

The  urban  counties  have  well-organized  probation  departments, 
and  Essex,  Hudson,  Union,  and  Mercer  do  particularly  effective  pro- 
bation work,  though  a  large  share  of  the  work  in  these  counties  is 
devoted  to  adults.  Hudson  and  Essex  have  special  officers  assigned 
to  juvenile  cases.  These  two  counties  are  already  provided  with 
parental  schools,  where  juveniles  awaiting  hearing  or  held  as  wit- 
nesses may  be  detained,  or  to  which  they  may  be  committed  for  obser- 
vation  and  examination  or  for  temporary  care  and  training.  Camden 
County  has  begun  to  build  a  juvenile  detention  home,  and  will  ad- 
minister it  according  to  the  best  modern  standards. 

Burlington  County  has  put  forth  special  efforts  to  meet  the  problem 
of  poor  attendance  in  rural  schools ;  so  also  have  Monmouth  and 
Ocean.  Each  has  a  county  attendance  officer.  By  virtue  of  "  per- 
missive "  legislation,  such  an  officer  may  be  appointed  at  public  ex- 
pense after  demonstration  has  been  made  through  private  support 
for  a  certain  period.  In  each  instance  a  woman  well  trained  in  social 
work  has  been  appointed.  In  Burlington  County  much  has  been  ac- 
complished toward  the  consolidation  of  rural  schools  and  the  im- 
provement of  family  life  as  related  to  child  welfare  in  isolated  com- 
munities. This  county  has  also  been  especially  successful  in  stimu- 
lating interest  in  backward  and  subnormal  children  and  in  making 
special  provision  for  them.  The  county  colony  for  feeble-minded 
boys,  started  some  years  ago,  has  been  taken  over  by  the  State  and  is 
rapidly  developing  into  a  remarkably  successful  institution. 

In  the  extremely  rural  counties  of  Hunterdon,  Sussex,  Warren, 
and  Ocean,  and  in  Morris,  Somerset,  and  several  of  the  southern 
counties,  the  county-helping  teachers  are  not  only  aiding  to  secure 
better  standards  of  teaching  and  of  health  for  country  school  chil- 
dren, but  are  also  creating  a  community  consciousness  in  out-of-the- 
way  places,  drawing  together  and  interesting  everyone — parents, 
teachers,  children,  and  officials — in  better  conditions  for  the  children. 

Bergen  County  has  recently  improved  its  county  children's  home. 
This  county  has  four  helping  teachers,    Morris  County  looks  forward 


NEW    JERSEY.  79 

to  improving  and  developing-  its  children's  home.  It  now  has  at  the 
county  seat  a  thoroughly  experienced  social  worker  and  is  preparing 
for  organization  on  a  county  basis. 

In  Middlesex,  Warren,  Cumberland,  Ocean,  and  Atlantic.  Counties 
the  local  units  of  the  American  Eed  Cross  have  been  very  helpful 
to  the  State  department  of  institutions  and  agencies  in  securing  bet- 
ter child  care.  Many  counties  have  no  other  organized  social  agen 
Four  counties  haA'e  county  vocational  schools.  Passaic  County, 
largely  urban  in  character,  has  good  schools  for  subnormal  child 
and  also  has  a  well-organized  social  agency — not,  however,  on  a 
county  basis.  Salem  and  Somerset  Counties  are  unorganized  for 
local  welfare  work.  The  former,  however,  offers  any  number  of  good 
foster  homes,  and  is  a  favorite  "  placing  ground  "  with  several 
agencies;  and  the  latter,  which  is  populated  largely  by  city  com- 
muters, contains  many  institutions  for  children  of  New  York  City 
who  are  in  need  of  convalescent  care. 

In  Monmouth  County  the 'work  of  the  county  organization  for 
social  service  is  unique  for  a  number  of  reasons.  First,  it  is  not  a 
part  of  any  State  or  National  organization  for  social  work.  It  is 
affiliated  with  larger  organizations,  but  is  in  no  way  dependent  upon 
them  for  policy,  direction,  or  finance,  although  it  may  cooperate  with 
them  in  carrying  out  a  demonstration  or  an  experiment.  Second, 
it  is  not  subsidized  from  public  funds,  but  is  supported  entirely  by 
private  contributions,  Third,  it  has  carried  forward  a  work  broader 
than  that  of  most  private  organizations  and  more  directly  connected 
with  public  life  and  county  government.  This  work  has  included 
surveys  and  research  with  respect  to  public  offices  and  institutions 
and  it  has  also  included  experiment  and  demonstration  of  more  ef- 
fective methods  of  public  administration  in  the  work  of  public 
schools,  health  departments,  courts,  institutions,  and  relief  agencies. 
The  demonstration  of  family  social  service  has  been  on  a  county-wide 
basis — this  again  is  quite  unusual.  Finally,  the  organization  has 
been  successful  in  strengthening  and  multiplying  local  agencies  and 
at  the  same  time  has  established  closer  and  more  helpful  relationships 
between  local  agencies  and  the  larger  organized  bodies.  State  and 
National. 

THE  WORK  IN  MONMOUTH  COUNTY. 

Characteristics  of  the  county. 

Monmouth  County  lies  midway  between  north  and  south  Jersey. 
It  has  a  long  coast  line,  part  of  the  "summer  playground"  district 
of  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  The  shore  has  a  large  and  shifting  summer 
population,  and  both  on  the  shore  and  inland  are  many  beautiful 
summer  homes.     The  county  is  also  suburban  in  character,     lie- 


80  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

quent  trains  carry  commuters  daily  between  their  country  or  sea- 
side homes  and  the  two  great  cities  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia. 
Back  from  the  shore  lie  the  rolling,  fertile  farm  lands  of  what, 
according  to  Government  reports,  is  one  of  the  richest  and  most 
productive  agricultural  counties  in  the  United  States.  Fring- 
ing the  fine  farming  country  are  a  number  of  townships  where 
there  are  miles  of  pine  and  sand  and  the  farms  are  few  and  poor. 
The  county  extends  inland  in  wedge  shape  almost  across  the  State. 
It  has  an  area  of  479  square  miles  and  a  permanent  population  of 
about  105,000,  including  22,000  of  foreign  or  mixed  parentage,  13,000 
foreign  born,  and  9,000  negroes.  There  are  43  political  units,  namely, 
2  cities,  25  boroughs,  and  16  townships.2 

In  addition  to  the  railways  which  cross  the  county  in  several 
directions  there  are  extensive  highways,  so  that  transportation  by 
automobile  is  convenient.  In  many  districts  almost  every  farmer 
has  a  car.  The  county  seat,  Freehold,  is  located  in  the  prosperous 
rural  section.  Near  Matawan  and  Keyport  is  a  more  barren  district 
adjoining  Earitan  Bay ;  here,  and  in  the  extremely  sandy  southern 
district,  are  found  Italian,  Pole,  or  Hebrew,  or  the  indigenous 
"  poor  white,"  who,  because  he  believes  that  a  few  acres  and  "  liberty  " 
are  better  than  working  a  farm  for  some  one  else,  has  rented  for  him- 
self a  small  tract  of  land.  With  no  other  visible  assets  than  a  hard- 
working wife,  a  large  family  of  children,  a  spavined  horse  or  two, 
and  a  few  secondhand  tools,  he  starts  out  to  wrest  a  living  from  the 
land — and  in  some  way  or  other  does  it. 

The  permanent  residents  of  the  two  cities  and  the  boroughs  along 
the  shore  include,  as  one  would  expect,  landlords,  the  professional 
groups,  tradesmen,  and  servants  (of  whom  many  are  negroes).  All 
of  these  are  to  a  great  extent  dependent  upon  the  visitor  and  the 
commuter  for  an  opportunity  to  earn  a  living.  But  there  is  one 
other  group  of  inhabitants  so  distinctive  as  to  require  special  men- 
tion, namely,  the  fisher  folk  and  the  oyster  and  clam  diggers,  many 
families  of  whom  inhabit  the  shores  of  the  numerous  salty  inlets 
and  bays.  Not  a  few  of  these  families  cling  to  the  more  primitive 
modes  of  life,  and  simple  social  standards  naturally  result  from  their 
isolated  existence.  Physical  and  mental  deficiencies  appear  with 
greater  frequency  among  individuals  belonging  to  this  group  than 
among  those  in  any  other,  unless  it  be  the  families  of  the  "pine 
woods  "  and  desolate  sandy  stretches,  whose  condition  is  also  isolated 
and  whose  mode  of  life  is  similar. 

Of  manufacturing  establishments  there  are  few  in  this  county.  A 
rug  mill,  a  cannery,  and  small  tool  works  at  the  county  seat,  one  or 

2  See  Bulletin,  Fourteenth  Census  of  the  United  States,  1920,  Population,  New  Jersey: 
Composition  and  Characteristics  of  the  Population,  p.  10. 


NEW   JEESEY.  81 

two  plants  employing  mechanical  labor  in  the  northern  section,  and 
the  clothing  factories  located  in  larger  or  smaller  units  in  various 
parts  of  the  county — these  offer  the  only  industrial  opportunities. 

The  schools  of  the  county  represent  every  type  from  the  one-room 
-antique  pattern  of  district  school  to  the  well-equipped,  modern  chVy 
system.  Their  total  seating  capacity  is  about  25,000.  In  1920  there 
were  still  in  use  77  schools  of  the  one  and  two  room  type,  in  which 
were  enrolled  3,435  boys  and  girls. 

The  Monmouth  County  Organization  for  Social  Service. 

History. — This  organization,  now  so  well  established,3  was  the  out- 
growth of  an  investigation  into  conditions  in  the  county  made  at 
the  suggestion  of  a  resident,  who  was  at  the  time  (1912)  actively 
interested  in  the  State  organization  known  as  the  New  Jersey  State 
Charities  Aid  and  Prison  Reform  Association.  It  was  as  a  county 
branch  of  this  association  that  the  Monmouth  County  society  was 
originally  organized.  Later,  when  the  State  association  went  out 
of  existence,  the  local  society  changed  its  name  to  the  present  one. 

The  original  organization  undertook  to  perform  some  of  the  func- 
tions of  a  children's. agency,  of  an  antituberculosis  association,  and 
of  a  county  charity  organization  society.  Its  earliest  efforts  were 
put  into  a  campaign  for  a  county  hospital  for  tuberculosis  patients 
and  for  a  county  home  and  hospital  for  the  aged  and  incurable.  It 
endeavored  also  to  help  the  overseers  of  the  poor  and  to  study  the 
problem  of  dependency  in  the  entire  county.  A  paid  secretary  and 
a  stenographer  constituted  its  first  staff. 

Following  the  passage  of  the  poor  law  by  the  New  Jersey  Legis- 
lature of  1911,  the  New  Jersey  State  Charities  Aid  and  Prison  Re- 
form Association,  a  volunteer  organization  representing  most  of  the 
counties,  met  to  discuss  the  application  of  this  law.  The  repre- 
sentative from  Monmouth  County  volunteered  to  finance  an  investi- 
gation in  her  county  to  determine  how  far  the  law  was  really  oper- 

3  REPORT    OF    INSPECTION    BY    THE    STATE    DEPARTMENT    OF    INSTITUTIONS 

AND    AGENCIES. 

Monmouth  County  Organization  for  Social  Service,  Second  National  Bank  Building',  Ri  d 
Bank,  N.  J. 

Date :  December  7,  1921. 

Object:  To  provide  a  clearing  house  for  social  and  health  activities  in  Monmouth  County. 

Source  of  maintenance:  Voluntary  contributions. 

Employees,  12:  Male,  2;  female,  3  social  workers,  2  curses,  3  Investigators,   2  clerks. 

Qualifications  for  assistance  :  No  race,  color,  or  creed  distinctions. 

Child  placement:  None. 

Activities:  General  social  service,  psychiatric  clinic  for  school  children,  health  clinics, 
family  relief,  extensive  health  program  for  children. 

Remarks:  Probably  the  most  active  private  welfare  organization  in  the  State,  touching 
every  phase  of  family  and  community  life.  It  is  well  organized  and  efficiently  con- 
ducted. 

Recommendation  :  Indorsement  upon  receipt  of  financial  report.  New  report  to  be  pub- 
lished early  in  1922. 


82  COUNTY    ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

ative  or  could  be  made  operative,  and  to  present  a  survey  of  the 
genera]  social  conditions  in  the  county.  The  paragraph  which  fol- 
lows is  quoted  from  the  published  report  of  this  survey: 

This  Investigation  revealed  many  needs,  and  at  the  same  time  showed  that 
those  who  were  trying  to  aid  the  unfortunate  and  to  better  community  con- 
ditions were  working  without  any  thought  of  coordinated  effort.  Private 
eharity  was  practically  unorganized.  There  were  no  trained  or  paid  social 
workers.  No  work  was  being  done  for  children,  except  at  long  range  by  two 
State  societies  of  limited  function.  •  The  only  public  institution  was  the  county 
jail.  Children  were  lodged  in  jail  and  tried  in  open  court.  There  had  been 
no  school  census  for  a  number  of  years;  truancy  was  common;  poverty,  de- 
pendency, disease,  and  bad  housing  were  all  too  prevalent.  Neither  public  nor 
private  charity  was  employing  modern  preventive  or  constructive  measures. 
Disheartened  groups  here  and  there  were  ready  to  welcome  some  form  of  organ- 
ization   which    promised    better    thing's. 

Most  people  were  surprised  at  this  report,  but  the  promoter  of  the 
investigation  was  by  no  means  disheartened.  She  believed  that  most 
of  the  wrong  conditions  could  be  remedied  by  intelligent,  concerted 
action.  Accordingly  she  went  to  work  to  secure  concerted  action. 
Small  groups  of  people,  carefully  selected,  were  asked  to  meet  at 
her  home  and  in  the  homes  of  those  who  became  interested.  A  few 
large  gatherings  were  held  to  arouse  public  interest.  Before  long 
the  funds  necessary  to  employ  a  secretary  was  raised,  and  the  Mon- 
mouth County  branch  of  the  New  Jersey  State  Charities  Aid  and 
Prison  Reform  Association  was  organized  on  June  24,  1912.4 

Membership  of  the  organization  has  grown  from  150  in  the  first 
year  to  over  600  at  the  present  time.  Contributions  vary  from  $1 
to  $1,000  or  more.  The  society  has  always  striven  for  the  highest 
possible  number  of  dollar  members  in  order  to  secure  the  interest 
of  the  largest  possible  number  of  people.  In  1918  the  income  of  the 
organization  amounted  to  $12,966  and  the  disbursements  to  $11,956. 

Original  constitution. — The  original  form  of  organization  pro- 
vided for  a  president,  four  vice  presidents,  a  secretary,  and  a  treas- 
urer. These  officers,  together  with  the  chairmen  of  standing  com- 
mittees, constituted  the  executive  committee.  The  standing  commit- 
tees were  organized  for  active  work  in  the  discretion  of  the  executive 
committee  and  were  required  to  submit  written  reports  at  the  monthly 
meetings  of  that  committee  and  at  the  annual  meetings  of  the  asso- 
ciation. The  standing  committees  included  those  on  (1)  county  insti- 
tutions, (2)  cooperation  with  churches  and  private  charities,  (3) 
tuberculosis,  (4)  finance,  (5)  education  and  publicity,  (6)  overseers 
of  poor,  (7)  children,  (8)  vagrants  and  mendicants,  (9)  housing,  and 
(10)  mental  defectives. 

4  At   tho  annual    meeting   in    1917    the  name   of  the   organization   was   changed   and   a 

new  constitution  adopted. 


NEW    JERSEY.  83 

The  finance  committee  was  required  to  secure  the  approval  of  the 
executive  committee  on  methods  to  be  employed  by  local  committees 
in  raising  funds. 

The  committee  on  education  and  publicity  was  charged  with  the 
task  of  interesting  people  throughout  the  county  in  the  objects  of  the 
association  and  of  informing  them  concerning  its  methods,  activities, 
and  aims — through  the  press  and  by  means  of  public  meetings;  and 
otherwise,  as  it  seemed  advisable,  it  was  to  acquire  and  disseminate 
general  information  on  topics  relating  to  the  work. 

The  committee  on  children  defined  its  duties  as  follows : 

It  shall  study  the  condition  and  needs  of  the  dependent  and  neglected  children 
of  Monmouth  County.  It  shall  inform  itself  of  the  character  and  work  of  insti- 
tutions, both  public  and  private,  where  children  are  maintained,  and  shall  sug- 
gest to  the  executive  committee  such  changes  or  improvements  as  may  tend  to 
increase  their  efficiency  in  the  care  and  education  of  these  children.  The  com- 
mittee shall  cooperate  with  the  New  Jersey  State  Board  of  Children's  Guardians 
and  other  child-placing  and  supervising  agencies,  and  with  the  public  schools  of 
the  county,  to  the  end  that  no  child  within  this  county  shall  be  deprived  of  an 
opportunity  to  develop  the  physical,  mental,  and  moral  qualities  that  make  for 
good  citizenship. 

The  committee  on  mental  defectives  was  enjoined  to  gather  infor- 
mation concerning  the  number,  whereabouts,  and  condition  of  feeble- 
minded, epileptic,  and  insane  persons  in  Monmouth  County ;  to  learn 
how  many  such  unfortunate  individuals  from  the  county  were  being 
cared  for  in  State  institutions,  ami  the  cost  per  capita  of  their  com- 
mitment and  maintenance,  and  to  study  the  causes  producing  such 
mental  defectives,  so  far  as  they  are  ascertainable,  and  suggest  meth- 
ods of  alleviation  and  control. 

Provision  was  made  for  the  "  Council  of  Social  Welfare,"  an  ad- 
visory council  including  one  or  more  representatives  of  each  of  the 
municipalities  in  the  county,  as  follows: 

The  members  of  this  council  shall  be  appointed  by  the  president.  They  shall 
hold  morrthly  meetings.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  council  of  social  welfar 
consider  and  decide  all  questions  relating  to  the  external  policy  of  the  associa- 
tion, and  no  new  course  of  action  involving  the  outside  relations  of  the  associa- 
tion shall  be  entered  upon  without  the  knowledge  and  approval  of  the  council. 
No  legislation  shall  be  proposed  by  the  council,  nor  any  efforl  made  to  influence 
legislative  action  either  by  the  association  or  by  any  member  thereof,  as  such, 
unless  with  the  approval  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  State  Charities  Aid 
and  Prison  Reform  Association  of  New  . Jersey . 

The  work  of  the  organization  progressed  along  many  lines,  repre- 
senting in  each  successive  year  the  thought  and  effort  <>!'  a  Larger 
group  of  citizens,  particularly  of  those  who,  whether  in  official  or  in 
private  life,  were  sincerely  interested  in  the  betterment  of  social 
conditions. 


84  COUNTY    ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

Policies. — The  organization  lias  not  received  subsidies  from  public 
funds;  on  the  other  hand,  it  has  in  many  instances  supplemented 
the  public  funds  available  for  the  salaries  of  certain  officials  in  order 
that  persons  of  unusual  ability  or  special  qualifications  might  be 
attracted  to  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility.  In  each  such  case 
the  work  of  the  official  had  to  do  with  the  welfare  of  families  or 
children,  and  the  gift  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  an 
experiment  involving  some  principle  accepted  by  the  organization 
as  worthy  of  demonstration.  The  county  attendance  officer,  the 
county  supervisor  of  child  study,  and  the  county  probation  officer 
were  first  appointed  in  this  way.  As  soon  as  the  importance  of  each 
type  of  work  was  thoroughly  established,  the  maintenance  of  these 
officers  was  taken  over  by  the  county.  From  the  beginning,  finances 
have  been  handled  on  a  budget  basis  and  carefully  audited  each 
year.  The  success  in  securing  memberships  has  undoubtedly  been 
due  to  the  public  confidence  resulting  from  this  careful  policy,  as 
well  as  to  the  actual  achievements  of  the  organization. 

Certain  fundamental  principles  have  never  been  lost  sight  of: 
First,  the  true  function  of  the  private  agency  is  to  experiment,  to 
demonstrate,  and  to  set  standards,  whereas  permanent  plans  for  child- 
caring  should  be  developed  from  these  demonstrations  and  expanded 
under  public  control.  Second,  the  development  of  the  local  com- 
munity must  go  hand  in  hand  with  that  of  the  county  and  the  State, 
the  work  of  each  of  the  three  being  closely  related  to  that  of  the 
other.  Third,  an  exact  knowledge  of  facts. is  the  first  essential  to  a 
sound  program.  Facts  should  be  determined  at  first  hand,  whenever 
possible,  by  someone  well  trained  for  the  work  and  provided  with 
the  necessary  resources.  The  keeping  of  careful,  discriminating 
records  in  permanent  form  is  indispensable  to  real  service.  Fourth, 
there  must  be  sympathetic  coordination  of  effort,  mutual  understand- 
ing, and  cooperation  between  various  private  agencies,  and  again 
between  these  and  public  officials. 

The  president  of  the  organization  in  an  annual  address  made  this 
statement: 

I  feel  that  we  have  always  had  a  spirt  of  real  fellowship  with  our  officials 
and  an  appreciation  of  the  services  they  render  the  county — our  county  super- 
intendent of  schools,  our  various  school  men,  the  representatives  of  the  other 
State  departments,  our  board  of  freeholders,  and  one  of  the  best  county  courts 
in  the  State.  With  these  officials  we  have  labored,  helping  to  make  possible 
plans  already  laid  down  by  them,  and  making  new  demonstrations  through 
their  leadership,  always  realizing  that  theirs  is  the  official  responsibilty  and 
that  in  them  official  authority  resides.  We  have  felt  with  them  that  experi- 
ments, even  in  their  departments,  should  properly  be  made  out  of  voluntary 
funds,  always  accepting  in  advance  as  a  principle  that,  should  such  demon- 
strations prove  to  be  a  success,  they  shall  be  carried  by  public  funds,  thereby 
becoming  a  permanent  service  to  society.  We  have  also  felt  that  it  is  our 
function  to  be,  for  them,  and  under  their  direction,  a  means  of  giving  informa- 


NEW   JERSEY.  85 

tion   to   citizens  of  the  county.     Social    education    is  part    of    a    preventive 
program. 

Some  of  the  activities  of  the  organization. — In  June,  1921,  there 
were  736  families  under  the  supervision  of  the  organization  with 
respect  to  one  or  more  family  problems.  Its  executive  secretary  has 
been  made  county  adjuster  for  Monmouth  County,  a  fact  which  in- 
sures a  saving  of  expense  to  the  county  in  the  support  of  its  wards 
in  the  State  institutions,  and  more  satisfactory  service  to  the  families 
who  have  relatives  or  friends  in  the  State  institutions.  The  organiza- 
tion handles  practically  all  the  complaints  brought  under  the  "  child- 
welfare  law  " ;  it  makes  investigations  in  most  such  cases  at  the  request 
of  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court. 

The  Monmouth  County  Organization  for  Social  Service  is  the 
agent  of  the  State  and  national  tuberculosis  associations.  .  In  1920, 
it  raised  a  large  amount  of  money  through  the  sale  of  Christmas 
seals,  portions  of  which  were  spent  for  preventive  health  work,  for 
the  county  tuberculosis  nurse,  for  children's  clinics,  and,  in  some 
places,  for  giving  a  small  subsidy  to  boards  of  education  to  make 
possible  the  employment  of  a  school  nurse. 

In  December,  1920,  the  Allenwood  Hospital  was  opened,  and  with- 
in two  months'  time  it  was  filled  to  capacity — 27  beds.  It  now  has 
a  waiting  list.  Three  tuberculosis  clinics  are  held  monthly — one  at 
Freehold,  one  at  Red  Bank,  and  one  at  Asbury  Park. 

The  staff  physician  of  the  organization  is  school  medical  examiner 
for  six  of  the  townships,  and  the  organization  bears  the  cost  of  the 
medical  inspection,  the  money  appropriated  for  that  purpose  by  the 
townships  being  used  for  nursing  follow-up  work.  The  Red  Cross 
cooperates  with  it  in  employing  a  "county  advisory  nurse/'  Sixteen 
communities  now  have  public-health  nurses.  The  "  county  tubercu- 
losis nurse,"  whose  field  service  covers  the  county,  works  under  the 
county  advisory  nurse. 

In  cooperation  with  National  and  State  agencies  a  comprehensive 
program  for  making  careful  studies  througout  the  county  of  the 
mental  as  well  as  the  physical  health  of  school  children  has  recently 
been  inaugurated.  This  is  the  second  time  that  a  county-wide  study 
of  school  children  has  been  undertaken.  The  first  study,  completed 
in  1915,  revealed  certain  important  facts  with  respect  to  the  number 
of  public-school  children  who  were  in  need  of  special  medical  care, 
institutional  treatment,  special  teaching,  or  changed  environmental 
conditions.  As  a  result  of  this  investigation,  the  county  bureau  of 
child  study  was  established  with  the  following  general  purposes: 
(1)  To  stimulate  interest  in  mental  and  physical  hygiene  in  the 
schools  and  community;  (2)  to  examine  as  to  mental  development 
and  health  all  children  who  are  seriously  retarded  in  school  or  are 
atypical;  (3)  to  detect  early  manifestations  of  tendencies  to  nervous 


86  COUNTY   ORCANiZATTON-    FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

or  mental  disorders  among  school  children  and  to  combat  these 
tendencies  by  preventive  work  in  the  school  and  the  home;  (4)  to 
keep  a  permanent  register  of  all  who  are  mentally  defective;  (5> 
to  plan  lor  and  encourage  special  provision  for  the  training  and 
supervision  of  the  mentally  defective  in  school  and  community. 
The  organization  hoped  so  to  educate  public  sentiment  that  means 
would  eventually  be  provided  for  adequately  taking  care  of  the 
neglected,  backward,  delinquent,  and  dependent  children  of  the 
county. 

It  was  necessary  to  secure  special  legislation  in  order  to  establish 
this  bureau.     The  act  creating  it  reads  as  follows: 4 

1.  When  in  any  county  a  survey  has  been  made  setting  forth  facts  and  con- 
ditions regarding  juvenile  delinquency  and  deficiency  among  children  of  school 
age,  the  results  of  which  shall,  in  the  opinion  of  the  commissioner  of  educa- 
tion, warrant  the  establishment  of  a  department  of  child  study,  there  may  be 
appointed  by  the  commissioner  of  education,  with  the  approval  of  the  State 
board  of  education,  a  supervisor  of  such  department,  who  shall  work  under 
the  authority  of  the  county  superintendent.  The  term  of  office  of  such  super- 
visor shall  be  for  one  year,  and  he  or  she  shall  receive  an  annual  salary  of 
not  more  than  $1,500. 

2.  The  county  superintendent  of  the  county  in  which  a  supervisor  has  been 
appointed,  as  provided  herein,  shall,  before  making  his  apportionment  of  school 
moneys,  deduct  from  the  amount  of  railroad  tax  appropriated  to  his  county 
the  sum  of  $1,500  for  the  salary  of  such  supervisor,  and  the  further  sum  of 
$350  for  traveling  expenses,  which  sums  shall  remain  in  the  hands  of  the 
county  collector  and  shall  be  available  only  for  the  payment  of  the  salary  of 
such  supervisor  and  the  expenses  incurred  by  said  supervisor  in  the  perform- 
ance of  his  official  duties. 

The  county  organization  gave  practical  assistance  in  training 
teachers  for  this  work  by  granting  scholarships  for  study  at  the 
Vineland  Training  School  and  elsewhere.  Naturally,  the  rural  prob- 
lem was  emphasized.  At  first  the  welfare  of  the  whole  group  of 
retarded  and  mentally  deficient  children  was  sought,  instead  of 
singling  out  the  definitely  feeble-minded  who  were  in  need  of  cus- 
todial care.  It  was  felt  to  be  important  to  establish  continuity  of 
effort  by  keeping  careful  records,  so  that  change  from  grade  to  grade 
and  from  one  school  or  community  to  another  might  not  result  in 
waste.  This  point  is  well  emphasized  by  Dr.  F.  D.  Porteus,  when  he 
says : 

If  we  give  some  years  of  training  in  carpentry  to  a  boy  who  after  leaving 
school  follows  the  occupation  of  running  errands  or  petty  thieving — for  which 
he  requires  no  training — then  a  great  deal  of  patient,  heartbreaking  effort  must 
be  largely  discounted  in  value,  because  the  aptitude  was  never  put  to  use.  The 
crux  of  the  whole  problem — the  provision  for  after  care — lies  outside  the 
teacher's  province.  This  essential  part  of  the  problem  requires  legislative  and 
social  action,  which  the  teacher  can  not  initiate. 

4  N.  J.  Acts,  1917,  ch.  88,  as  amended  by  Acts,  1920,  ch.  102. 


NEW    JERSEY.  87 

Such  a  record  will  accomplish  a  very  important  purpose — the  rela- 
tion of  the  school  to  the  bag  social  problems  of  dependency,  deficiency, 
and  juvenile  crime  will  be  kept  clearly  in  view.  An  age-grade  dis- 
tribution table,  with  its  very  plain  lesson,  should  be  regarded  by 
principals  as  a  measuring  chart  of  their  social  responsibility  and  by 
boards  of  education  as  a  criterion  of  how  sincerely  and  wisely  they 
June  tried  to  make  the  schools  the  best  possible  training  ground  for 
the  coming  generation. 

In  the  beginning  the  teachers  gave  voluntary  service,  because  they 
could  not  be  released  from  regular  work.  To  do  the  special  work, 
they  made  many  personal  sacrifices,  working  out  of  hours  and  in 
all  sorts  of  corners.  Later,  the  aid  of  normal  schools  was  enlisted. 
Several  student  teachers  were  assigned  to  practice  under  the  teachers 
who  wished  to  do  this  special  work.  It  was  not  long  before  the 
student  teacher  could  relieve  her  critic  teacher  of  the  regular  class- 
room work  during  part  of  the  day. 

Another  of  the  purposes  of  the  bureau  of  child  study  was  to  pre- 
vent the  development  of  delinquencies  in  schoolboys  by  getting  hold 
of  the  boys  in  time  to  win  them  away  from  habits  of  truancy  and 
disorderly  conduct. 

After  the  bureau  had  been  in  operation  for  a  time  the,  allowance 
for  the  salary  of  the  supervisor  was  materially  increased  and  he  was 
granted  an  assistant.  Special  teachers  have  now  been  appointed 
whose  duties  are  not  only  to  teach  and  train  the  subnormal  children 
but  also  to  act  as  "  adjusters"  in  any  case  of  particular  difficulty,  to 
assist  the  school  principal  in  determining  the  special  needs  of  excep- 
tional children,  and  to  establish  in  each  case  relations  of  greater  help- 
fulness between  the  parents  and  the  school. 

In  one  district  where  "  there  really  wasn't  a  corner  "  for  a  special 
classroom  for  subnormal  children,  not  only  a  corner  but  a  good- 
sized  room  was  secured  by  clearing  out  a  basement  storeroom.  A 
long  "saw-buck"  table,  a  dozen  stools,  a  movable  blackboard,  long 
and  short  ladders,  a  kindergarten  circle  on  the  floor,  and  a  discarded 
bench  or  two  constituted  the  new  equipment.  Decorations  consisted 
of  new  kalsomining,  a  red  burlap  display  board,  and  a  quantity  of 
flags.  But  the  spirit  of  work  and  of  play,  the  childish  eagerness  and 
happiness  which  were  magically  put  into  that  basement  room,  did 
not  emanate  from  the  equipment.  Children  begged  to  come  for  a 
part  of  the  day,  because  here  was  a  teacher  who  could  "  show  you 
how  to  do  things,"  and  such  interesting  things.  The  work  proved 
its  value  so  quickly  that  the  teacher  was  soon  allowed  to  give  full 
time  to  it  and  had  the  promise  of  equipment  in  the  coining  year. 
Within  two  months  several  groups  had  beeD  organized,  so  that  prac- 
tically every  child  who  needed  it  was  receiving  a  share,  at  least,  oi 


88  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

the  attention  of  this  special  teacher.  The  personal  daily  contact  af- 
forded  by  this  special  work  was  one  of  its  principal  advantages. 

In  much  the  same  way  the  work  of  the  county  attendance  officer 
was  begun,  proved  its  worth,  and  finally  became  a  public  responsi- 
bility. In  1921  this  officer  was  recognized  by  the  judge  of  the  county 
as  an  assistant  probation  officer. 

The  Monmouth  County  Organization  for  Social  Service  has  not 
functioned  as  a  placement  office,  since  the  New  Jersey  State  Board  of 
Guardians  and  other  well-established  agencies  are  prepared  to  do 
that  work  effectively.  It  has,  however,  cooperated  closely  with  all 
of  these  child-placing  agencies.  Its  chief  emphasis  has  always  been 
on  constructive  and  preventive  work  bearing  upon  child  care  and 
protection,  because-  it  has  felt  strongly  that  the  child  is  involved  in 
all  family  social  problems  and  in  many  community  problems,  since 
these  largely  determine  the  character  of  his  home.  As  a  result,  most 
of  the  things  achieved  have  related  to  provision  for  better  health 
and  education,  for  improved  family  and  community  life,  and  for 
suitable  treatment  or  institutional  care  when  either  is  necessary. 

THE  RELATION  OF  THE  STATE  DEPARTMENT  OF  INSTITUTIONS 
AND  AGENCIES  TO   COUNTY  WELFARE  ORGANIZATIONS. 

In  its  relationship  to  local  groups,  it  is  the  function  of  the  State 
department  to  stimulate,  cooperate,  and  coordinate  rather  than  to 
interfere  or  attempt  to  direct  arbitrarily.  Plans  of  organization 
drawn  up  in  an  office  remote  from  the  scene  of  action  and  superim- 
posed by  a  State  authority  upon  any  community  are  predestined  for 
the  scrap  basket,  or,  at  best,  for  a  short-lived  usefulness.  The  per- 
manently successful  organization  is  indigenous  to  the  community. 
Though  it  develop  slowly  at  first,  it  will  continue  to  grow  so  long  as 
there  is  need  enough  in  the  community  to  give  it  root  hold. 

The  function  of  central  bodies,  such  as  the  State  department  of 
institutions  and  agencies  represents,  is  not  to  govern  by  reason  of 
superior  authority,  but  to  stimulate  and  strengthen  local  endeavors 
and  so  to  plan  its  own  program  of  social  welfare  that  the  work  of 
the  State  will  be  the  natural  complement  of  that  which  is  accom- 
plished by  the  communities. 

It  is  often  necessary,  first  of  all,  to  help  a  community  to  see  that 
it  has  a  social  problem.  The  second  step  is  to  help  in  measuring  the 
problem,  and  the  third,  to  aid  in  making  a  plan  to  take  care  of  it. 
This  always  leads  to  the  realization  by  the  community  that  it  is  with- 
out the  necessary  resources,  or  is  without  the  organization  which 
would  use  existing  resources  to  the  best  advantage.  At  this  point 
the  idea  of  a  community  or  county  organization  is  likely  to  germi- 
nate.    There  are,  of  course,  many  ways  in  which  the  experienced 


NEW    JEESEY.  89 

State  leader  may  help  to  nurture  it  or  to  influence  the  direction  of 
its  growth.    The  following  story  will  illustrate : 

In  May,  1921,  a  boy  of  13  years  was  admitted  to  the  State  cor- 
rectional institution  from  the  county  of  X.  The  records  showed 
that  he  had  spent  three  months  in  jail.  A  State  worker,  learning 
this  fact,  decided  that  county  X  would  be  a  good  field  for  service. 
A  visit  was  made  to  the  county  court,  and  friendly  relations  were 
established  with  the  judge  and  county  officials. 

When  the  boy's  case  was  mentioned,  the  judge  showed  that  he 
had  been  sincerely  desirous  of  doing  the  right  thing  by  him.  On 
the  boy's  first  arrest,  since  there  was  some  question  as  to  the  degree 
of  his  mental  responsibility,  the  judge  had  hesitated  to  send  him  to 
the  State  correctional  institution  and  had  instead  kept  him  under 
observation  in  the  county  jail.  On  trial  he  was  released;  but  he 
was  again  arrested,  and  for  this  second  offense  was  committed  to  the 
institution.  The  reports  of  the  State  psychologist  and  psychiatrist, 
who  examined  him  soon  after  admission,  confirmed  the  judge's  sur- 
mise that  he  was  not  normal  mentally,  but  stated  that  his  condition 
was  symptomatic  of  a  mental  breakdown  rather  than  of  feeble- 
mindedness. It  was  unfortunate  that  three  months  of  valuabe  time 
had  been  lost  before  treatment  was  begun. 

Some  weeks  after  the  investigation  of  this  case  by  the  State  worker 
a  group  of  school  officials  met  in  Trenton,  among  whom  were  a  num- 
ber from  the  county  from  which  the  boy  was  committed.  The  State 
worker  secured  an  opportunity  to  address  this  meeting  on  the  neces- 
sity of  early  diagnosis  and  special  teaching  or  care  for  pupils  of  a 
defective  or  a  delinquent  type.  A  week  later  there  came  an  urgent 
request  that  the  State  agent  visit  a  certain  school  district  of  the  same 
county.  Here  was  a  school  principal  fully  aware  that  his  district 
had  a  gravely  important  social  problem  which  involved  a  number  of 
families  and  the  safety  of  little  children.  He  did  not  know  what 
could  be  done  about  it,  but  the  State  department  of  institutions  and 
agencies,  in  its  several  divisions,  afforded  the  special  types  of  service 
he  needed. 

The  ramifications  of  this  particular  problem  brought  to  light  sev- 
eral others.  Plans  for  taking  care  of  the  situation  involved  the  re- 
adaptation  of  a  county  institution,  the  cooperation  of  a  State  institu- 
tion in  training  a  special  teacher,  and  that  of  the  State  department  in 
providing  custodial  care  for  certain  individuals.  People  in  the  com- 
munity began  to  ask,  "Why  have  things  come  to  this  pass?"  The 
answer  was,  "Nobody  knew;  nobody  cared."  They  began  to  wonder 
if  it  wasn't  somebody's  business  to  know  and  to  help,  and  suddenly 
discovered  that  there  were  certain  workers  in  the  county  who  made  it 
their  business  to  know  and  to  help,  if  given  the  chance.  It  was  learned 
111532°— 22 7 


90  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOB    CHILD    CARE. 

that  a  sooial-service  bureau  had  been  started  at  the  county  seat,  a 
good  many  miles  away.  Since  the  community  could  not  support  an 
independent  agency,  it  begun  to  seek  for  some  way  of  combining  its 
plan  with  the  work  of  the  agency  at  the  county  seat  and  to  wonder  if 
other  (list ticts  might  not  be  induced  to  do  the  same,  thus  building 
up  a  county  work.  The  idea  is  still  in.  the  first  stage  of  development, 
but  it  is  sine  to  take  root,  ami  the  State  worker  will  be  there  to  see 
that  it  is  firmly  rooted  in  the  right  place. 

The  incident  just  given  illustrates  the  process  of  "stimulation" 
used  in  those  counties  which  have  little  or  no  organized  service  for 
the  welfare  of  children.  In  other  counties,  notably  the  more  urban 
counties  where  various  local  agencies  are  already  established,  the 
State  department  has  promoted  a  plan  of  cooperation;  this  amounts 
to  a  friendly  exchange  of  information,  sometimes  of  service,  and 
occasionally  of  advice.  There  is,  however,  no  recognized  relationship 
of  interdependence. 

In  Monmouth  County  there  has  been  a  demonstration  of  what  can 
be  accomplished  by  really  coordinating  the  work  of  the  county  or- 
ganization with  that  of  the  State.  Interdependence  and  responsi- 
bility are  recognized  on  both  sides.  It  is  understood  at  the  State 
department  that  the  county  organization  is  to  be  notified  at  once  of 
every  admission  from  the  county  to  a  State  institution,  and  of  the 
anticipated  parole  from  an  institution  of  every  Monmouth  County 
ward.  The  organization  assumes  responsibility  for  investigating 
the  circumstances  of  commitment  and  secures  a  history  of  the  sub- 
ject. If  family  problems  are  involved,  it  begins  to  work  upon  them, 
so  that  the  improvement  in  conditions  may  be  coincident  with  the 
improvement  in  the  individual  under  State  care,  if  that  is  possible. 
The  organization  also  receives  the  reports  of  State  examiners  con- 
cerning the  subject  under  care.  These  reports  often  throw  light  on 
the  family  problem,  just  as  the  facts  of  family  and  personal  history, 
gleaned  by  the  county,  assist  the  State  agent  to  understand  the 
patient.  "When  a  ward  of  the  State  received  from  this  county  is 
released,  the  county  organization  takes  up  the  burden  of  placement 
and  supervision,  coordinating  its  plans  with  those  of  the  parole  bu- 
reau of  the  State  department,  under  whose  authority  the  subject 
remains  till  the  expiration  of  the  parole  period. 

The  executive  secretary  of  the  county  organization  has  been  ap- 
pointed county  adjuster,  so  that  all  questions  with  respect  to  the  cost 
of  maintenance  and  responsibility  therefor  are  promptly  taken  up 
by  the  person  most  familiar  with  the  facts.  This,  of  course,  prevents 
great  loss  of  motion. 

In  many  other  specific  ways  the  effort  of  State  specialists  is  closely 
seconded  by  the  local  workers,  to  the  greatest  possible  good  of  the 
persons  in  their  care.    It  is  not  necessary  to  say  how  large  a  saving 


NEW    JERSEY.  91 

of  effort  and  expense  is  thereby  accomplished.  The  important  fact 
is  that  this  community  recognizes  that  the  commitment  of  one  of  its 
citizens  to  the  care  of  a  State  institution  does  not  "  forever  roll  the 
burden  away,"  but  that  community  and  State  must  share  it. 

It  is  probable  that  the  next  few  years  will  witness  the  develop- 
ment of  similar  organizations  in  several  counties  of  the  State  which 
are  more  or  less  comparable  to  Monmouth  in  general  character.  The 
State  department  of  institutions  and  agencies  will  continue  to  go 
back  to  the  community  with  case  after  case,  each  time  bringing  home 
to  the  community  conscience  a  real  sense  of  responsibility,  and  guid- 
ing this  awakened  consciousness  into  helpful  forms  of  activity.  The 
growth  of  organizations  qualified  to  undertake  the  highest  type  of 
coordinated  effort  can  not  be  accomplished  in  one  year,  or  two,  but 
every  effort  is  bound  to  strengthen  the  tie  between  State  and  com- 
munity service. 

In  urban  centers  where  social  agencies  are  already  active  the  desire 
for  mutual  helpfulness  brings  together  State  and  local  workers.  The 
well-organized  probation  departments  of  certain  cities  furnish  the 
institutions  with  extremely  valuable  information  from  court  and 
probation  records.  Investigating  agencies  are  regularly  called  upon 
for  family  histories  and  other  data  concerning  State  wards,  and  they 
are  glad  to  respond  as  far  as  their  facilities  for  securing  information 
permit.  In  these  communities,  councils  of  agencies  or  bureaus  for 
family  service,  already  organized,  function  with  considerable  effec- 
tiveness, so  that  it  would  seem  unnecessary  to  attempt  a  separate  or- 
ganization on  a  county  basis.  In  the  face  of  the  complicated  city 
problems,  a  single  organization  would  be  compelled  to  adopt  a  very 
cumbersome  form  in  order  to  include  the  great  variety  of  functions 
which  it  would  be  called  upon  to  fulfill. 

The  president  of  the  Monmouth  County  Organization  for  Social 
Service  is  quoted  in  the  following  paragraphs : 

We  are  only  a  few  steps  away  from  the  county  council  of  agencies  in  which 
all  the  representatives  of  Federal  and  State  departments  and  the  county  execu- 
tives can  cooperate,  with  a  program  agreed  upon  in  advance  and  with  every 
effort  and  every  dollar  working  toward  the  same  end. 

The  field  to  he  chosen  for  the  demonstration  of  a  principle  of  social  welfare 
should  be  coextensive  with  a  political  unit.  This  is  necessary  if  the  funds  to 
carry  the  program  are  to  he  appropriated  as  part  of  the  official  budget,  and  is 
equally  necessary  if  proper  stress  is  being  laid  on  the  value  of  educating  the 
public  to  demand  permanent  service  as  the  result  of  demonstration. 

Careful  consideration  should  he  given  to  the  relation  between  needs  and  de- 
mand, and  to  the  reaction  to  he  expected  from  tin-  community;  ami  much 
weight  should  he  Riven  to  the  advisability  of  meeting  a  social  need  to  which 
the  people  are  already  awake.  The  smaller  communities  must  he  kept  alive  to 
the  necessity  of  knowing  and  caring  for  their  own  well-being.  With  this  policy 
accepted,  an  almost  unconscious  step  is  taken  by  the  public  from  a  program 
of  remedy  to  a  program  of  prevention. 


COUNTY  ORGANIZATION  FOR  CHILD-WELFARE  WORK  IN 
NEW  YORK  STATE  BY  THE  NEW  YORK  STATE  CHARI- 
TIES AID  ASSOCIATION.1 

H.  Ida  Curry, 

Assistant    Secretary   and   Superintendent    of   County   Agencies    for   Dependent 

Children,  New   York  state  Charities  Aid  Association. 

THE  EARLY  PROGRAM  FOR  CHILD  CARE  AND  PROTECTION. 

In  1872  a  group  of  public-spirited  citizens  of  New  York  State  were 
led  by  an  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  destitute  and  the  sick  to 
organize  a  society  to  study  their  needs  and  to  aid  in  improving  the 
State  (or  public)  charities  in  New  York  State.  The  organization 
adopted  the  name  "The  State  Charities  Aid  Association."  Its  inter- 
ests were  indicated  by  the  appointment  of  three  committees  on  (1) 
children,  (2)  adult  able-bodied  paupers,  and  (3)  inmates  of  hospitals. 

It  is  interesting  to  look  back  50  years  to  the  time  when  children 
in  need  of  public  support  were  cared  for  in  county  almshouses,  and 
to  note  the  duties  of  the  committee  on  children  as  defined  in  the  con- 
stitution of  that  early  day : 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  committee  on  children  to  inform  itself  of  the 
number,  present  condition,  plan  of  education,  and  ultimate  disposition  of  the 
children  in  the  reformatories  of  this  State,  and  in  the  State  [public]  institu- 
tions of  public  charities.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  this  committee  to  urge  upon 
the  community  the  very  great  importance  of  enforcing  such  enlightened  meas- 
ures in  the  care  and  training  of  these  children  as  may  tend  to  effectually  de- 
stroy hereditary  pauperism  in  this  State,  and  to  best  enable  them  to  become 
useful  citizens  and  good  men  and  women. 

In  1874  the  following  set  of  principles  were  adopted  to  guide  the 
committee : 

1.  All  children  older  than  infants,  whether  sick  or  well,  of  sound  mind  or 
otherwise,  should  be  removed  from  the  poorhouses,  and  not  be  allowed  to  grow- 
up  exposed  to  the  contaminating  influence  of  adult  paupers. 

2.  Healthy  children  who  art-  orphans  or  abandoned  should  lie  placed  in  fami- 
lies, either  by  adoption  or  indenture.  There  should  he  intelligent  supervision 
of  the  children  placed  in  these  families,  by  which  it  can  he  ascertained  whether 
the  terms  of  the  agreement  are  carried  out,  and  whether  the  children  are  kindly 
treated. 

3.  No  healthy  child  of  sound  mind  should  he  allowed  to  remain  and  grow 
up  in  any  institution,  public  or  private,  however  well  managed.  We  strongly 
advocate  the  so-called   family  system  as  opposed   to  ihe  institution   system,   he- 

1  This  manuscript  was  completed  in  February,   1022. 

93 


94  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR  CHILD   CARE. 

Iieving  that  the  former  is  most  conducive  to  the  better  development  and  ulti- 
mate welfare  of  t  lie  child. 

4.  For  sick,  crippled,  deformed,  and  otherwise  physically  afflicted  children, 

hospital  ho s  should  be  provided.     Here  they  should  be  tenderly  cared  for, 

educated  If  possible,  and  taught  such  Light  trades  and  household  service  as  th^ir 
condition  permits. 

5.  An  asylum  for  incurable  idiot  children  is  imperatively  needed.  The  hope- 
ful cases  from  the  Slate  generally  are  sent  to  the  well-managed  State  Asylum 
at  Syracuse,  those  from  New  York  City  to  the  excellent  School  for  Idiots  on 
Randall's  Island,  but  the  condition  of  the  more  unfortunate  little  ones  left  in 
the  county  poorhouses  is  most  pitiable. 

The  New  York  State  Charities  Aid  Association  from  the  begin- 
ning has  consisted  of  a  central  association  with  headquarters  in  New 
York  City,  and  of  county  committees,  each  interesting  itself  in  the 
problems  of  its  county  and  all  working  together  for  state-wide  pro- 
grams and  reforms. 

Very  soon  after  this  association  was  organized  a  State  law  was 
secured,  providing  that  children  in  need  of  public  support  should 
be  cared  for  by  the  superintendent  or  overseers  of  the  poor  in  "  fam- 
ilies, orphan  asylums,  hospitals,  or  other  appropriate  institutions  for 
the  support  and  care  of  children,"  and  that,  with  the  exception  of 
infants  under  3  years  of  age,  with  their  mothers,  they  should  no 
longer  be  sent  to  almshouses.  Later  this  age  was  changed  to  2 
years. 

The  newly  organized  county  committees  rendered  such  assistance 
as  they  could  to  the  poor-law  officials  in  providing  other  care  for 
the  children  when  they  were  removed  from  almshouses.  The  placing 
of  children  in  free  foster  homes  by  the  county  committees  was  en- 
couraged by  the  central  association,  and  large  numbers  were  so 
placed. 

In  1892  temporary  boarding  homes  were  recommended,  as  "  it 
was  impossible  to  find  free  homes  under  careful  supervision,  because 
children  were  beyond  the  age  when  usually  desired  for  adoption, 
or  were  too  young  to  make  their  service  of  value,  or  because  of 
some  physical  defect,  or  because  dependence  was  merely  temporary 
during  the  period  that  parents  or  friends  were  unable  to  care  for 
them." 

It  was  not  until  1898  that  the  association  organized  a  central 
placing-out  agency  to  unify  and  standardize  the  work  of  its  county 
committees.  This  central  agency  has  gradually  taken  over  the  re- 
sponsibility for  placing  suitable  children  from  the  various  counties 
of  the  State  in  free  foster  homes. 

THE  NEWBURGH  EXPERIMENT. 

In  1894,  in  the  city  of  Newburgh,  was  begun  a  work  which  proved 
to  be  the  initiation  of  an  effort  by  the  association  to  secure  a  definite, 


NEW    YORK.  95 

comprehensive  public  program  for  the  care  of  destitute,  neglected, 
and  delinquent  children  in  New  York  State. 

While  the  county  is  the  usual  unit  for  poor-law  administration 
in  the  State,  by  special  act  the  city  and  town  of  Newburgh  for  many 
years  has  constituted  a  separate  poor-law  district,  which,  so  far  as 
the  care  of  its  poor  is  concerned,  is  entirely  independent  of  Orange 
County,  in  which  it  lies.  Newburgh  in  1877  had  built  a  children's 
home,  to  which  all  children  needing  public  support  were  sent.  This 
home  was  overcrowded,  and  in  1894  the  commissioners  of  charities 
proposed  to  enlarge  the  building.  The  Newburgh  committee  of  the 
New  York  State  Charities  Aid  Association  asked  the  opportunity 
to  look  into  the  circumstances  of  the  children,  in  order  to  see  whether 
some  of  them  might  not  be  better  cared  for  elsewhere.  An  investi- 
gating agent  was  employed  by  the  committee,  who  was  also  to  visit 
all  children  previously  in  the  home  who  had  been  placed  in  free 
family  homes  by  the  city  commissioners  of  charities  or  by  the  local 
committee  of  the  State  charities  aid  association.  By  painstaking 
inquiry  it  was  found  that  some  of  the  children  in  the  institution 
could  be  returned  to  their  own  homes,  as  their  parents  were  then 
able  to  care  for  them ;  that  others  could  be  placed  in  free  foster  homes 
or  in  the  homes  of  relatives  willing  and  able  to  provide  for  them; 
and  that  still  others  could  be  transferred  to  the  State  school  for 
feeble-minded  children,  which  was  better  suited  to  meet  their  needs. 
The  population  of  the  children's  home  was  materially  reduced,  so 
that  no  enlargement  was  necessary. 

Visiting  the  children  already  placed  out  in  free  family  homes  dis- 
closed that  a  number  were  living  in  undesirable  surroundings,  a  fact 
which  inadequate  supervision  had  failed  to  discover.  The  wide 
range  of  provisions,  through  what  is  now  called  case  work,  which 
it  was  found  possible  to  make  for  children  who  had  hitherto  been 
cared  for  in  the  children's  home  or  other  similar  institution, 
strikingly  demonstrated.  Investigations  of  the  family  circumstances 
of  children  for  whom  public  support  was  asked  developed  hidden 
resources,  and  frequently  care  was  provided  which  obviated  the 
necessity  of  breaking  u-p  the  family  and  of  the  expenditure  of  public 
funds  to  support  the  children  either  in  the  Newburgh  Children's 
Home  or  elsewhere.  The  investigating  agent  saved  both  children 
and  money,  and  she  was  kept  in  the  field.  Thus  the  first  "  agency 
for  dependent  children  "  in  New  York  State  came  into  being.  After 
a  short  period  of  demonstration  entirely  at  private  expense,  in  recog- 
nition of  the  value  of  the  work  the  city  agreed  to  pay  part  of  the 
cost  of  the  agency,  and  in  1800  a  formal  agreement  was  drawn  up 
between  the  Newburgh  committee  of  the  State  charities  aid  associa- 
tion and  the  commissioners  of  charities  of  the  city  and  town  of  New- 


96  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

burgh  which  has  continued  to  this  day  in  almost  exactly  the  same 
form. 

Although  the  success  of  the  Newburgh  experiment  was  recognized, 
the  limited  staff  of  the  central  association  was  so  absorbed  in  other 
pressing  duties  that  for  many  years  no  concentrated  effort  was  made 
to  secure  the  establishment  of  children's  agencies  elsewhere;  but  in 
1901  the  Columbia  County  committee  of  the  association  and  in  1905 
the  Rockland  County  committee  organized  such  an  agency.  Both  of 
these  county  agencies  further  demonstrated  the  usefulness  of  the 
Newburgh  plan. 

THE  PLAN  OF  COUNTY  COOPERATION. 

In  1908  the  New  York  State  Charities  Aid  Association  organized 
a  "  Department  of  County  Agencies,"  with  a  superintendent,  to  fur- 
ther the  organization  of  county  agencies  for  dependent  children 
throughout  the  State.  Usually  the  work  has  been  started  under  an 
agreement  between  the  county  board  of  supervisors,  the  county  su- 
perintendent of  the  poor,  and  a  county  committee  of  the  State  chari- 
ties aid  association,  in  the  following  form : 

Agreement  between  the  board  of  supervisors  and  the  superintendent  of  the 

poor  of County  and  the county  committee 

of  the  State  charities  aid  association. 

The  committee  for County  of  the  State  charities  aid 

association  of  the  State  of  New  York,  for  the  consideration  hereinafter  stated, 
agrees  to  perform  as  an  assistant  to  the  superintendent  of  the  poor,  and  sub- 
ject to  his  approval,  the  following  duties  through  an  agent  or  agents  in  rela- 
tion to  dependent  children  in  said  county. 

1.  To  investigate  the  circumstances  of  the  families  in  said  county  having 
poor  children  who  are  public  charges  or  for  whom  application  has  been  made 
for  commitment  as  public  charges ;  and  to  assist  in  returning  said  children  to 
their  homes,  provided  their  families  are  financially  able  and  morally  fit  to  care 
for  them. 

2.  To  investigate  the  circumstances  of  families  willing  to  provide  homes  for 
such  children  or  to  provide  good  situations  at  domestic  service  for  homeless 
women  with  young  children  who  might  otherwise  become  public  charges,  and 
to  assist  in  procuring  good  homes  or  good  situations  in  such  families  for  such 
children  or  homeless  women. 

3.  To  investigate  from  time  to  time  the  condition  of  such  children  who  have 
been  placed  out  in  family  homes  and  the  condition  and  circumstances  of  the 
homes  themselves. 

4.  To  assist  in  securing  the  transfer  to  State  charitable  institutions  of  de- 
pendent children  in  the  county  who  are  feeble-minded  or  epileptic  or  otherwise 
in  need  of  special  care  or  treatment. 

5.  To  report  monthly  to  the  county  superintendent  of  the  poor,  or  such  other 
public  official  or  officials  as  he  may  designate,  the  result  of  its  investigations, 
and,  in  general,  to  perforin  such  duties  from  time  to  time  as  the  superintendent 
of  the  poor  may  require  to  assist  him  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  with  re- 
spect to  the  poor  children  of  families  in County. 


NEW    YORK.  97 

The  board  of  supervisors  hereby  agrees  to  pay  said  committee  for 

County  of  the  State  charities  aid  association  the  sum  of 

dollars  per  month  toward  the  expenses  of  said  agency. 

For  the County  committee  of  the  State  charities  aid 

association : 

Preside   : 

Secretary. 

For  the  board  of  supervisors  of County. 

Chairman. 

Clerk. 

Superintendent  of  the  Poor. 

The  county  committees  are  composed  of  public-spirited  citizens, 
both  men  and  women,  selected  to  represent  a  diversity  of  interests. 
The  original  committee  is  selected  by  the  State  charities  aid  associa- 
tion. After  organization  the  committees  are  self-governing,  but  con- 
stitutions have  been  uniformly  adopted  which  provide  that : 

The County  committee  shall  receive  its  appointment, 

as  the County  committee  of  the  State  charities  aid  asso- 
ciation, from  the  board  of  managers  of  the  State  charities  aid  association,  and 
shall  work  under  the  general  direction  of  the  board  of  managers. 

In  accordance  with  the  by-laws  of  the  State  charities  aid  association  the 
president  and  the  secretary  of  the  county  committee  are  entitled  to  vote  at  the 
annual  and  other  meetings  of  the  State  charities  aid  association. 

The  initial  public  appropriation  secured  has  generally  been  large 
enough  to  cover  the  salary  of  an  agent,  private  funds  supplementing 
this  amount  to  meet  additional  expenses.  However,  the  public  appro- 
priations have  varied.  One  county  started  the  work  with  an  appro- 
priation from  public  funds  of  but  $60  toward  a  $3,000  budget,  while 
in  another  the  full  cost  was  assumed  by  the  county  officials  from  the 
beginning.  Appropriations  are  made  to  the  county  committee  and 
disbursed  by  its  treasurer.  Usually  an  office  with  telephone  has  been 
arranged  for  in  the  count}-  courthouse. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  agencies  are  organized  primarily  to  deal 
with  children  receiving  or  in  need  of  public  support.     By  the  terms 
of  the   agreement,  county  committees  are  assistants  to  the  pi 
officials  charged  with  the  duty  of  caring  for  dependent  children.    The 
committees  have  only  such  power  as  is  delegated  to  them  by  the 
officials,  but  they  have  an  obligation  to  investigate  and  to  report.    The 
committees  function  through  trained  social  workers  who  are  gener- 
ally appointed  on  the  recommendation  of  the  central  office  of  t 1 
charities  aid  association.    Young  women  with  college  traini] 
equivalent,  and  with  special  case-work  training  or  experi         .  are 
selected.    To  be  successful  an  agent  must  have,  in  addition  to  techni- 
cal training,  the  pioneer  spirit  and  unlimited  tact  and  resourceful- 
ness.    Frequently  the  agent  is  the  only  social  worker  in  a  county 


98  COUNTY    ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

where  the  usefulness  of  case  work  is  hut  little  understood  or  appre- 
ciated, and  where  there  are  but  meager  resources  upon  which  to  draw. 
Above  all,  she  must  be  able  to  get  along  well  with  all  kinds  of  people — 
public  officials,  society  leaders,  and  business  men,  as  well  as  the 
families  to  be  benefited. 

The  work  of  the  agents  is  in  the  nature  of  public,  not  private, 
charitable  relief,  which  means  relief  authorized  by  law  and  paid  for 
through  public  appropriation.  The  support  of  children  found  to 
need  care  is  borne  by  the  public  treasury,  as  heretofore.  Private 
funds  occasionally  provide  for  some  special  need  of  a  child,  but  the 
county  committees  of  the  State  charities  aid  association  do  not  take 
over  the  responsibility  for  the  support  of  needy  children,  which  rests 
on  the  different  communities.  The  association  aims  to  emphasize  and 
to  increase  local  official  responsibility,  not  to  carry  the  local  burden. 

While  the  first  interest  of  the  count}^  agent  is  with  destitute  chil- 
dren coming  to  the  superintendent  or  overseers  of  the  poor  for  sup- 
port, it  devolves  upon  her  to  look  after  a  wide  variety  of  child  needs. 
In  a  few  counties  there  are  societies  for  the  prevention  of  cruelty  to 
children  which  handle  cases  requiring  court  action,  especially  the 
neglect  cases.  In  these  counties,  besides  looking  after  children  taken 
under  care  without  court  action,  the  children's  agents  have  taken  up 
the  Avelfare  of  children  where  the  work  of  the  societies  for  the  pre- 
vention of  cruelty  to  children  ended  and  have  continued  oversight 
until  the  children  are  returned  to  their  families,  placed  in  free  homes, 
or  otherwise  permanently  provided  for.  In  the  majority  of  counties 
no  society  for  the  prevention  of  cruelty  to  children  exists,  and  there 
the  agents  have  looked  after  the  neglect  cases,  prosecuting  when 
necessary,  as  a  part  of  their  every-day  work.  Gradually  child  pro- 
tection has  been  accepted  as  a  public  responsibility.  Defective  chil- 
dren, and  frequently  defective  adults,  have  claimed  the  special  at- 
tention of  the  county  agent,  and  securing  their  commitment  to  State 
institutions  has  become  one  of  her  duties.  She  also  deals  with  the 
problems  of  the  unmarried  mother  and  the  wayward  girl. 

A  variety  of  other  social  problems  come  under  the  consideration  of 
the  children's  agent.  In  some  counties,  at  the  request  of  the  over- 
seers of  the  poor,  she  makes  investigations  of  families  receiving  out- 
door relief;  and  in  some  counties,  at  the  request  of  local  judges,  she 
acts  as  probation  officer  for  children  and  young  women. 

In  order  that  there  may  be  a  wider  range  in  the  choice  of  homes 
for  county  children  in  need  of  permanent  free  homes  and  that  such 
children  may  be  removed  from  neighborhoods  where  their  unfortu- 
nate circumstances  are,  or  may  become,  known  and  so  handicap  them, 
the  placing  of  children  in  permanent  free  homes  has  been  concen- 
trated in  the  child-placing  agency  of  the  New  York  State  Charities 
Aid  Association,  to  which  all  cases  of  children  eligible  for  placement 


NEW    YOEK.  99 

are  referred  by  the  county  agents,  a  full  family  history  being  sent  m 
for  each  child. 

The  State  charities  aid  association,  through  its  department  of 
county  agencies,  which  is  under  the  direction  of  a  superintendent  (in 
later  years  the  department  has  had  two  assistant  superintendents) 
has  by  correspondence  and  b}^  personal  visits  supervised  and  stand- 
ardized the  case  work  of  the  agencies.  It  has  helped  solve  the  more 
difficult  problems  and  has  acted  as  a  center  of  information,  of  inspira- 
tion, and  of  help  in  all  matters  relating  to  the  activities  of  the  agen- 
cies, so  that  each  of  the  agencies  has  benefited  by  the  experiences 
of  all. 

Until  some  18  or  20  counties  had  been  organized,  the  cooperation 
of  the  central  association  through  its  field  service  was  limited  to 
agencies  organized  under  formal  agreements  between  county  com- 
mittees of  the  association  and  county  officials,  such  as  that  quoted 
above.  This  policy  was  adopted  because  it  seemed  likely  that  reason- 
ably uniform  methods  and  standards  of  case  work  could  be  developed 
more  rapidly  through  agencies  controlled  by  committees  of  the  as- 
sociation. From  experience  in  many  counties  was  gradually  worked 
out  a  system  of  child  care  which  seemed  the  most  satisfactory  pos- 
sible under  existing  laws.  In  recent  years  the  association  has  ex- 
tended its  cooperation  to  counties  in  which  no  formal  agreements  are 
entered  into  by  association  committees,  but  in  which  some  private 
organization  other  than  the  State  charities  aid  association  is  sponsor 
for  the  work,  or  in  which  the  agency  is  entirely  public  both  as  to 
direction  and  as  to  support. 

THE  NEED  FOR  UNIFYING  COUNTY  CHILD-WELFARE  WORK. 

The  association  has  been  eager  to  develop  a  more  satisfactory  and 
practicable  public  county  program  of  child  care  than  has  heretofore 
existed  in  the  State.  In  New  York  each  county  has  a  superintend- 
ent of  the  poor,  but  in  addition  the  towns  have  overseers  of  the  poor 
and  the  cities  have  commissioners  of  charity.  Any  one  of  these 
officials,  or  of  the  judicial  officers,  such  as  city  judges  and  recorders, 
and  four  justices  of  the  peace  in  each  town,  may  determine  that  a 
child  is  in  need  of  public  protection  or  public  support  and  designate 
the  place  in  which  the  child  shall  be  cared  for.  Altogether  New  York 
State  contains  more  than  5,000  public  officials  who  may  be  called 
upon  at  any  time  to  render  such  decisions.  Furthermore,  there  is  no 
uniformity  in  the  counties  as  to  the  source  of  support  for  the  children, 
save  that  all  children  committed  by  magistrates  as  delinquents  be- 
come county  charges — and  even  here  there  are  a  few  exceptions. 
Each  county,  by  a  vote  of  its  board  of  supervisors,  may  determine 
whether  all  children  except  delinquents  who  need  public  care  shall 


100  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

be  supported  by  the  county  itself  or  by  the  towns  of  the  county  in 
which  they  have  Legal  settlement.  If  the  children  are  county  charges 
the  county  superintendent  of  the  poor  usually,  but  not  always,  be- 
comes the  committing  officer;  if  they  are  town  charges,  the  over- 
seers of  the  poor  act  in  that  capacitj'. 

Except  in  counties  where  agencies  have  developed  hoarding  care 
for  some  children,  those  accepted  by  the  poor-law  officials  or  com- 
mitted by  the  courts  are  sent  to  privately  managed  institutions,  the 
county  paying  a  certain  amount  per  week  for  their  care ;  the  only 
exceptions  are  delinquent  children  committed  to  the  State  reforma- 
tories. The  institutions  are  often  from  50  to  100  miles  distant  from 
the  county.  Lacking  information  concerning  home  conditions,  the 
institutions  are  naturally  slow  to  discharge  children,  at  least  until 
they  reach  the  age  of  16,  when  public  support  usually  ceases.  Upon 
discharge  the  children  very  frequently  return  to  the  unfit  homes  from 
which  they  were  previously  taken,  having  no  other  place  to  go. 
Occasionally  a  child  is  placed  out  by  an  institution  when  responsible 
relatives  might  have  been  found  willing  to  give  him  a  home.  The 
elected  public  officials  change  frequently;  and  unless  they  have  the 
assistance  of  a  children's  agent,  there  is  no  one  to  give  continuous 
thought  to  the  conditions  on  account  of  which  the  children  supported 
by  the  county  were  separated  from  their  families,  or  to  the  desir- 
ability or  undesirability  of  their  being  returned  to  their  own  homes. 
Nevertheless,  the  public  officials  alone  are  responsible  for  the  welfare 
of  those  children  within  the  county  who  are  "  poor  persons  "  within 
the  meaning  of  the  law.  Outdoor  relief — that  is,  relief  in  the 
home — can  be  administered  by  overseers  of  the  poor,  but  usually  the 
kind  and  amount  of  relief  so  distributed  bear  little  or  no  relation  to 
the  requirements  of  the  family. 

A  new  element  was  introduced  into  this  confused  situation  of  pub- 
lic child  care  in  New  York  State  when  the  mother's  allowance  law 
was  passed  in  1915.  This  law  created  county  boards  of  child  wel- 
fare, each  composed  of  the  county  superintendent  of  the  poor  and 
six  citizens  appointed  by  the  county  judge.  These  boards  were  au- 
thorized to  grant  allowances  to  widows  with  young  children,  under 
certain  restrictions.  Thus  an  entirely  new  channel  of  relief  was 
created  to  deal  with  a  limited  group  of  children  in  their  own  homes. 
Later  the  law  was  amended  to  extend  allowances  to  certain  other 
groups  of  mothers.  In  counties  having  children's  agencies,  the 
agents  were  usually  asked  to  make  the  investigations  for  these 
boards,  so  that  all  the  child-caring  work  in  these  counties  was  co- 
ordinated. 

Court  facilities  for  the  protection  of  children  in  the  counties  are 
too  widely  scattered  to  produce  satisfactory  results.  Justices  of  the 
peace — 1  to  each  town  and  an  average  of  75  or  more  to  a  county — 


NEW    YORK.  101 

have  neither  the  legal  training  nor  the  experience  necessary  for  a 
wise  determination  of  the  many  intricate  questions  which  come  to  a 
juvenile  court  for  decision.  Outside  the  cities,  only  three  counties 
in  the  State  have  juvenile  courts.2  County  probation  officers  handle 
both  adult  and  juvenile  offenders. 

County  boards  of  supervisors  are  viewing  with  displeasure  the 
necessity  for  appropriating  county  money  for  child  care  in  so  many 
different  directions — to  an  agency  for  children,  to  a  board  of  child 
welfare,  to  various  private  institutions  for  the  support  of  children, 
and  sometimes  to  a  humane  society  as  well. 

As  the  State  charities  aid  association  learned  more  intimately 
through  the  county  children's  agencies  just  how  the  needy  children 
really  fared,  its  desire  for  a  better  program  for  child  care  was  greatly 
stimulated. 

At  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction  held  in 
Baltimore  in  1915,  C.  C.  Carstens  presented  his  memorable  paper, 
"A  community  plan  in  children's  work."3  In  considering  Mr.  Car- 
stens's  plan  in  relation  to  New  York  several  things  were  apparent. 
The  county  system  of  child  care  was  so  firmly  established  in  New 
York  State  that  a  State  board  of  children's  guardians  was  not  prac- 
ticable. .  Centralized  responsibility  for  child  care  within  the  county, 
however,  was  clearly  desirable.  County  boards  of  child  welfare  had 
come  into  existence,  although  their  activities  were  limited  by  law  to 
the  children  of  a  restricted  group  of  mothers.  Supervision  by  the 
New  York  State  Board  of  Charities  was  assured  by  the  constitution 
of  the  State.  These  with  other  considerations  led  to  the  belief  that 
a  New  York  county  program  for  child  care  should  include : 

1.  A  county  board  of  children's  guardians,  which  would  assume  all  the  powers 
and  duties  of  all  the  poor-law  officials  and  of  the  board  of  child  welfare  that 
grants  relief  to  mothers-  with  young  children. 

2.  A  county  juvenile  court,  which  should  have  exclusive  .jurisdiction  in  all 
cases  of  children  and  in  cases  of  adults  charged  with  offenses  against  children, 
with  the  power  to  hold  court  in  anypart  of  the  county  and  to  appoint  referees 
to  hear  cases.  At  least  in  the  less  populous  counties  this  court  should  be  a 
separate  section  of  the  county  court.  This  plan  would  eliminate  the  hearing 
of  children's  cases  by  the  many  justices  of  the  peace. 

In  1917  Dutchess  County  secured  the  passage  of  a  special  law 
putting  into  effect  the  first  part  of  this  program.  In  1921  Suffolk 
County  secured  the  passage  of  a  similar  law.  In  1918  Chautauqua 
County  by  special  law  put  into  effect  the  second  half  of  the  program, 
but  as  yet  in  no  county  has  the  whole  program  been  put  into  operation. 

2  Since  this  was  written,  the  1022  session  of  the  Xew  Vork  Legislature  has  passed  an 
act  establishing  a  children's  court  in  each  county  of  the  State-  with  certain  exceptions 
to  covin'  counties  in  which  juvenile-court  work  had  already  been  organized  and  given 
such  courts  original,  exclusive  jurisdiction  over  children's  cases. 

8  Proceedings,  p.  92. 


102  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

Have  the  needy  children  in  these  counties  been  benefited  by  the 
special  laws?  In  this  connection  it  will  be  of  interest  to  examine 
somewhat  in  detail  the  work  in  Dutchess  County  as  it  developed,  first 
by  cooperative  effort  of  private  and  public  agencies,  and  later  under 
purely  public  auspices. 

DUTCHESS  COUNTY  CHILD-WELFARE  WORK. 

According  to  the  Federal  census  of  1920,  Dutchess  County  has  a 
population  of  91,747.  Its  only  cities  are  Poughkeepsie,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  35,000,  and  Beacon,  with  10,996.  It  contains  9  incorporated 
villages  and  is  divided  into  20  towns. 

In  1908  a  group  of  12  interested  citizens  of  Dutchess  County  were 
organized  as  the  Dutchess  County  committee  of  the  New  York  State 
Charities  Aid  Association.  In  November  of  that  year  the  com- 
mittee asked  the  board  of  supervisors  to  enter  into  an  agreement 
under  which  the  committee  would  establish  an  agency  for  dependent 
children  to  assist  the  superintendent  of  the  poor  in  looking  after  the 
children  then  supported  by  the  county — all  needy  children  were 
county  charges  in  this  county — and  those  for  whom  public  support 
would  be  asked  in  the  future.  The  board  of  supervisors  accepted 
the  offer  of  the  committee,  appropriating  $720  toward  the  year's 
expenses.  The  committee  agreed  to  raise  all  other  money  needed  to 
cany  on  the  work.  Local  opinion  strongly  favored  the  appointment 
of  a  person  resident  in  the  community  to  draw  the  local  salary. 
Trained  social  workers  were  less  known  and  less  appreciated  then 
than  now,  and  a  young  woman  with  no  professional  training  or  ex- 
perience in  social  case  work  was  appointed.  The  work  in  the  county 
began  on  January  1,  1909.  Under  the  guidance  of  the  central  office 
the  agent  accomplished  some  desirable  results  in  the  first  month  or 
two,  but  as  she  grasped  the  nature  of  the  work  to  be  done  she  realized 
the  needs  and  resigned,  recommending  the  appointment  of  a  trained 
and,  if  possible,  experienced  social  worker.  An  office  in  the  county 
courthouse  was  assigned  to  the  new  agent,  and  soon  it  became  the 
center  of  great  activity  in  behalf  of  Dutchess  County's  needy  chil- 
dren. At  the  end  of  nine  months  the  number  of  children  dependent 
upon  the  county  had  been  reduced  from  126  to  99,  although  during 
the  period  28  children  had  been  added  to  the  list  of  depend. 
Forty-four  children  had  been  returned  to  responsible  relatives,  8 
placed  in  free  foster  homes,  and  3  placed  in  State  institutions  for  the 
feeble-minded.  In  addition,  the  agent  had  looked  into  the  circum- 
stances of  more  than  100  children  for  whom  public  support  was  asked 
or  who  were  reported  as  in  need  of  public  protection  or  care. 

The  children's  agent  gradually  became  one  of  the  best-known  and 
busiest  persons  in  the  county.    By  personal  report,  through  letters, 


NEW    YORK.  103 

and  by  telephone,  she  constantly  learned  of  children  in  situations 
which  "  somebody  should  do  something  about."  The  agent  became 
the  "  somebody."' 

The  county  committee  grew  to  an  organization  of  several  hundred 
members,  with  an  executive  committee  in  active  charge  of  the  work. 
In  three  or  four  of  the  centers  of  population,  case  committees  were 
organized,  with  which  the  agent  met  monthly  to  discuss  the  needs  of 
children  in  each  neighborhood. 

In  the  first  nine  months  of  the  work,  the  private  organization 
raised  $294  to  supplement  the  public  appropriation  of  $720.  During 
the  first  full  year — October  1, 1909,  to  September  30,  1910 — the  public 
appropriation  was  $900,  and  private  funds  amounting  to  $400  were 
raised,  which  completed  the  $1,300  budget.  In  1915  (the  year  of  the 
largest  budget),  the  private  funds  collected  amounted  to  $1,520,  and 
the  public  appropriation  to  $2,600,  the  total  budget  being  $4,120. 

In  1912  an  additional  agent  was  employed,  and  later  a  stenogra- 
pher was  added  to  the  staff.  In  the  first  year  the  agent  collected 
$100  toward  the  cost  of  maintaining  children  who  had  become  public 
charges  from  relatives  of  the  children.  In  1916  the  two  agents  col- 
lected $1,572.50  for  a  like  purpose.  During  the  period  in  which  the 
State  charities  aid  association  committee  was  in  charge — January, 
1909,  to  March,  1917 — about  one-third  of  the  children  who  became, 
public  charges  did  so  through  court  action,  principally  because  of 
having  no  proper  guardians;  the  other  two-thirds  were  accepted  as 
public  charges  by  the  county  superintendent  of  the  poor,  as  provided 
by  the  poor  law  of  the  State,  the  agent  arranging  for  their  care  in 
boarding  homes  or  in  institutions.  Unbelievably  bad  conditions  were 
found  in  the  county,  and  the  most  revolting  crimes  against  childhood 
were  discovered.  The  agents  frequently  secured  evidence  and  be- 
came prosecuting  witnesses  in  proceedings,  both  to  rescue  children 
and  to  punish  adult  offenders. 

Less  than  half  the  children  for  whom  public  care  was  asked  were 
accepted  for  public  support.  By  case-work  methods  other  ways  of 
meeting  difficult  family  situations  were  devised  in  the  cases  of  the 
remaining  number,  so  that  the  families  could  be  kept  together. 

Of  the  105  children  dependent  at  the  close  of  the  period,  35  were 
in  boarding  homes;  53  were  in  institutions  for  destitute  children — 
26  under  poor-law  commitments  and  27  by  court  order;  17  were  in 
correctional  institutions,  or  in  hospitals  or  other  institutions  for  spe- 
cial care.  Individualized  treatment  of  dependent  children  after  diag- 
nosis had  taken  the  place  of  uniform  institutional  care.  The  county 
superintendent  of  the  poor,  the  board  of  supervisors,  the  dis< 
attorney,  the  city  judge,  and  the  town  justices  of  the  peace  had  a  ■■ 
cepted  the  children's  agents  as  necessary  county  officials.  Although 
the  agents  were  officially  assistants  to  the  superintendent  of  the  poor, 


104  COUNTY    ORGANIZATION    FOE    CHILD    CARE. 

it  was  their  own  judgment  which  determined  where,  how,  and  for 
how  long  children  should  be  supported,  and  what  should  become  of 
them  upon  discharge  from  public  support. 

When  the  board  of  child  welfare  was  created  by  law  in  1915  to 
grant  allowances  to  destitute  widows  with  young  children,  several 
members  of  the  county  committee  were  appointed  on  it,  and  the  chil- 
dren's agents  were  asked  to  make  the  investigations.  The  considera- 
tion of  the  children  of  widows,  therefore,  was  never  entirely  divorced 
from  the  consideration  of  other  needy  children  in  Dutchess  County. 
At  the  same  time  it  was  felt,  both  by  the  officials  of  the  county  and 
by  the  county  committee  of  the  State  charities  aid  association,  that 
the  time  had  come  for  the  county  to  adopt  a  broader  and  a  centralized 
child-caring  program. 

The  State  charities  aid  association  accordingly  presented  for  con- 
sideration a  plan  for  a  county  board  of  children's  guardians  and  a 
county  juvenile  court  to  handle  between  them  all  the  children's 
cases  in  the  county.  The  board  of  supervisors  asked  the  county 
judge  to  draft  a  suitable  law  establishing  the  board.  After  consul- 
tation and  at  the  request  of  the  county  judge,  the  State  charities  aid 
association  drafted  the  bill  which,  with  one  or  two  changes,  was 
passed  by  the  State  legislature  in  1917.4  This  created  a  Dutchess 
County  Board  of  Child  Welfare,  to  which  were  assigned  all  the 
powers  and  duties  of  the  poor-law  officers  as  they  related  to  children 
and  all  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  then  existing  board  of  child 
welfare  (the  mothers'  allowance  board).  The  law  also  fixed  upon 
the  board  other  responsibilities  not  previously  recognized  as  distinct 
public  duties.  The  board  was  to  consist  of  10  members,  including 
the  chairman  of  the  board  of  supervisors,  2  other  members  of  the 
board  of  supervisors  selected  by  that  body,  the  county  superin- 
tendent of  the  poor,  and  6  citizens  appointed  by  the  county  judge 
and  the  county  superintendent  of  the  poor. 

In  brief  outline  the  provisions  of  the  Dutchess  County  law  in  re- 
lation to  needy  children  are  as  follows : 

POWERS   AND   DUTIES   OF   THE   BOARD 

1.  As  to  destitute  children : 

Administer  aid  to  mothers  with  young  children. 

Receive  children  as  wards  of  county. 

Receive    children    without    proper    guardianship    upon    commitment    by 

court. 
Place  in  boarding  homes  or  institutions. 
Place  in  family  homes. 

2.  As  to  neglected  children  : 

Investigate  complaints  as  to  neglect. 

Advise  and  warn  when  court  action  is  not  required. 

*  N.  Y.  Laws,  1917,  ch.  354. 


NEW    YOEK.  105 

2.  As  to  neglected  children — Continued. 

Institute  proceedings  when  necessary. 

Receive  children  as  wards  of  county  on  court  order. 

Place  in  homes  or  institutions. 

3.  As  to  delinquent  children : 

Receive  as  wards  of  county  on  court  order. 
Place  in  institutions  or  boardiing  homes. 

4.  As  to  defective  children : 

Obtain  admission  to  suitable  institutions  for  defectives  when  necessary. 
( )btain  treatment  and  care  in  their  own  homes  when  feasible. 
Maintain  supervision  over  those  not  in  State  institutions. 

5.  As  to  all  classes  of  children : 

Provide  for  investigations. 

Provide  for  mental  and  physical  examinations. 

Provide  for  medical  care. 

Collect  money  from  parents  found  able  to  pay. 

Collect  such  sums  as  parents  are  ordered  by  court  to  pay. 

Administer  relief  in  the  homes  when  necessary. 

Place  in  homes  or  institutions  of  religious  faith  of  parents. 

6.  As  to  children  discharged  from  State  institutions : 

Upon  request,  receive  as  wards  of  the  county. 

All  moneys  appropriated  for  the  children's  agency  and  for  the 
allowances  to  mothers  became  by  the  law  available  to  carry  on  this 
work.  The  agents  who  had  been  employed  by  the  Dutchess  County 
committee  of  the  State  charities  aid  association  were  retained  by 
the  newly  created  board;  several  members  of  the  county  committee 
were  named  by  the  county  judge  as  members  of  the  new  county  board 
of  child  welfare,  and  the  work  for  children  proceeded  without  the 
slightest  interruption  or  inconvenience. 

The  advantage  of  centralized  administration  very  soon  became 
evident.  Within  the  limits  of  the  public  appropriation  available  the 
board  was  able  without  loss  of  time  or  energy  to  administer  home 
relief;  to  secure  physical  or  mental  examinations;  to  provide  medi- 
cal, surgical,  or  dental  treatment :  and  to  arrange  for  children  in 
boarding  homes  or  in  institutions. 

As  time  proceeded  members  of  the  board  became  familiar  with 
the  requirements  and  technique  of  specialized  treatment,  so  that 
consent  for  the  expenditure  of  public  funds  for  such  purposes  as 
necessary  orthopedic  hospital  care  was  voted  as  a  matter  of  course, 
whereas  in  former  times  the  agent  might  only  with  difficulty  have 
persuaded  a  public  official  to  authorize  a  similar  expenditure  even 
for  treatment  urgently  needed.  Individual  case-work  treatment  of 
each  child  became  a  matter  of  routine,  whereas  under  the  old  system 
the  consent  of  the  poor-law  official  had  to  be  secured  in  each  instance 
for  the  expenditure  of  any  money  in  the  child's  behalf,  while  for 
any  extraordinary  expense  it  was  necessary  to  obtain  the  consent 
of  one  or  more  other  officials  and  frequently  even  of  the  town  board  or 
111532°— 22 8 


106  COUNTY   ORGAN IZATTON"   FOR  CHILD   CARE. 

of  the  county  board  of  supervisors.     This  made  treatment  slow  and 
difficult. 

Under  the  public  board  of  child  welfare  the  staff  has  grown.  A 
director,  three  investigating  agents,  and  two  stenographers  or  office 
assistants  are  employed.  In  1921  the  total  expenditures  were  as 
follows : 

Total  cost  to  the  county .$86,763.86 

Administration 10,  429.  85 

Salaries $6, 7u4. 97 

All  other  expenses,  including  traveling 3,724.88 

Care  of  children 76, 334.  01 

Mothers'  allowances 26, 468.  50 

Board  of  children  in  family  homes 11,630.  57 

Board  of  children  in  institutions 38,  234.  94 

The  number  of  children  in  the  care  of  the  Dutchess  County  Board 
of  Child  Welfare  on  November  1,  1921,  was  as  follows : 

Total  under  care 400 

Under  16  years  of  age  in  55  families  receiving  allowances 184 

In  boarding  homes 76 

In  institutions 140 

The  amount  collected  during  the  year  from  parents  or  relatives 
toward  the  support  of  children  was  $5,500.30. 

CENTRALIZED    JUVENILE-COURT    WORK    IN    CHAUTAUQUA 

COUNTY. 

So  far,  Dutchess  County  has  not  organized  a  county  juvenile  court, 
but  in  1918  the  Chautauqua  County  children's  agents  and  the  local 
public  officials  concluded  that  the  time  had  come  for  such  a  court  in 
that  county.  Chautauqua  County  has  a  population  of  115,348,  and 
within  it  are  the  cities  of  Jamestown,  with  about  39,000  people,  and 
Dunkirk,  with  19,300.  In  addition  there  are  11  incorporated  vil- 
lages. There  are  27  towns  (called  townships  in  some  States),  each 
having  four  justices  of  the  peace.  There  were  therefore  in  the  county 
over  100  magistrates  before  whom  a  case  involving  a  child's  future 
might  be  called.  Monroe  County,  with  the  city  of  Eochester,  and 
Ontario  County,  without  any  large  city,  already  had  established 
county  juvenile  courts,  and  the  Chautauqua  County  officials  deter- 
mined to  secure  a  similar  law. 

With  the  assistance  of  the  State  probation  commission  and  the 
State  charities  aid  association  a  bill  was  drafted,  and  it  was  passed 
by  the  legislature  of  1918.5     The  court  was  established  in  May  of 

BN.  Y.  Laws  1918,  ch.  464. 


NEW    YORK.  107 

that  year  os  a  special  session  of  the  county  court.  A  separate  court 
was  considered  too  costly,  and  there  would  not  have  been  sufficient 
business  to  occupy  the  full  time  of  a  juvenile-court  judge.  The 
court  was  empowered  to  sit  in  any  part  of  the  county  and  to  appoint 
referees.  The  constitution  of  New  York  made  it  impossible  to 
confer  chancery  powers.0  but  the  criminal  proceedings  were  made 
as  simple  as  possible.  Issuance  of  summonses  on  petition  was  pro- 
vided for,  as  was  the  appointment  of  probation  officers.  The  court 
was  empowered  to  establish  a  place  of  detention,  if  that  was  found 
necessary.    Jurisdiction  was  given  over  any  child 7 — 

(a)  Who  violates  any  penal  law  or  any  municipal  ordinance  or  who  commits 
any  act  or  offense  for  which  such  child  could  he  dealt  with  as  for  juvenile 
delinquency,  or 

(b)  Who  engages  in  any  occupation,  calling,  or  exhibition,  or  is  found  in 
any  place  for  permitting  which  an  adult  may  he  punished  by  law,  or  who  so 
deports  itself  or  is  in  such  condition  or  surroundings  or  under  such  improper 
or  insufficient  guardianship  or  control  as  to  endanger  the  morals,  health,  or 
general  welfare  of  such  child,  or 

(c)  Whose  custody  is  the  subject  of  controversy:  Provided,  Tliat  when  the 
question  of  the  custody  of  a  child  is  incidental  to  the  determination  of  a 
cause  pending  before  the  supreme  court  or  the  surrogate's  court,  such  court 
shall  not  he  deprived  of  jurisdiction  to  determine  such  question  but  may,  in 
its  discretion,  refer  such  question  to  the  county  court  for  hearing  and  determi- 
nation. 

Jurisdiction  over  adult  offenders  against  children  was  also  con- 
ferred in  the  following  language:8 

Jurisdiction  is  hereby  conferred  upon  the  county  court  of  Chautauqua  County 
to  hear,  try,  and  determine  all  cases  arising  in  said  county  under  article  44 
of  the  penal  law,  not  otherwise  provided  for  in  (his  act  or  already  included 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court.  The  powers  of  the  court  and  the  pro- 
cedure in  such  cases,  less  than  the  grade  of  felony,  shall  be  as  now  provided 
by  law  for  the  trial  of  such  cases  in  courts  of  special  sessions  and  police  courts. 

The  county  judge  shall  have  the  same  jurisdiction  and  authority  as  is  now- 
conferred  upon  justices  of  the  peace  and  police  justices  to  deal  with  any 
parent  or  other  person  responsible  for  the  maintenance  of  a  child,  as  a  dis- 
orderly person,  if,  in  the  discretion  of  the  county  judge,  in  view  of  the  facts 
and  circumstances  developing  in  the  investigation  or  hearing  of  a  child's  case, 
the  protection  and  welfare  of  such  child  require  that  the  parent  be  so  dealt 
with.  The  powers  of  the  county  judge  and  the  procedure  in  such  cases  shall 
be  as  now  provided  by  law  for  such  cases  when  brought  before  justices  of  the 
peace  and  police  justices. 

This  centralized  consideration  of  children  who  need  the  correction 
or  protection  of  a  court  has  worked  to  great  advantage.  The  county 
judge  is  a  man  of  wider  experience  than  the  majority  of  justices  of 

°A  constitutional  amendment  permitting  the  State  legislature  to  confer  chancery 
powers  upou  juvenile  and  domestic  relations  courts  was  carried  in  the  election  of  No- 
vember, 1921. 

7N.  Y.  Laws  1!)1S.   eh.   404.  sec.    1. 

*  Ibid.,  sec.  20. 


108  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

the  peace  in  any  comity,  lie  is  :i  lawyer  of  standing,  while  in  Xew 
York-  justices  of  the  peace  are  not  required  to  have  legal  training. 
The  consideration  of  a  relatively  large  number  of  cases  develops  an 
expertness  in  recognizing  the  difficulties  of  individual  children  which 
can  not  be  expected  of  a  justice  hearing  only  an  occasional  complaint. 

The  city  judge  of  Dunkirk  has  been  appointed  referee  in  nearly  all 
cases  arising  in  that  city,  but  the  county  judge  has  personally  heard 
practically  all  other  cases. 

A  small  detention  home  has  been  opened  at  the  direction  of  the 
court.  This  has  not  been  entirely  satisfactory,  but  its  drawbacks  are 
recognized  and  improvement  is  expected. 

The  State  charities  aid  association  has  directed  the  attention  of  its 
committee  and  of  the  public  officials  in  Chautauqua  County  to  the 
desirability  of  establishing  a  county  board  of  child  welfare  similar  to 
that  of  Dutchess  County  and  the  people  of  the  county  seem  favorably 
disposed  toward  this  plan. 

Only  when  the  combined  experiments  of  Dutchess  and  Chautau- 
qua Counties  are  tried  in  the  same  county — which  may  be  hoped  for 
in  the  near  future — can  it  be  discovered  just  how  adequately  the  pro- 
gram outlined  by  the  State  charities  aid  association  will  insure  the 
welfare  of  all  needy  children  in  a  given  section  of  New  York  State. 


THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE   DEPARTMENT  OF   CHILD 
WELFARE  OF  WESTCHESTER  COUNTY,  NEW  YORK.1 

Ruth  Taylor, 
Director,  Westchester  County  Department  of  Child  Welfare. 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  New  York  State  conditions  with  ref- 
erence to  the  care  of  the  poor  in  general  and  of  children  in  particular 
will  understand  without  preliminaries  why  various  counties  of  the 
State — chief  among  them  Dutchess,  Suffolk,  Oneida,  and  Westches- 
ter— have  each  begun  an  experiment  in  the  centralized  administration 
of  part  or  all  of  their  public  charities,  with  the  county  as  the  unit  of 
administration.  These  four  experiments  all  deal  with  children ;  two 
include  adults  as  well.  They  are  all  in  a  sense  protests  against  the 
old  method  of  caring  for  dependent  children.  Westchester  County, 
the  first  county  of  the  State  to  secure  the  passage  of  special  legisla- 
tion permitting  it  to  undertake  such  an  experiment,  is  trying  a  differ- 
ent form  of  administration  from  the  others,  and  one  covering  more 
branches  of  work;  its  experiment  is  interesting,  partly  for  this  reason 
and  partly  because  of  the  county's  prominence  in  the  State. 

THE  DEPARTMENT'S  FIELD  OF  WORK. 

Westchester  stands  second  in  population  among  the  57  counties  in 
New  York  State  outside  of  New  York  City,  its  344,000  being  ex- 
ceeded only  by  Erie  County.  Its  location  makes  it  possibly  the 
most  important  of  these  counties.  Its  population  is  very  unevenly 
distributed,  the  southern  part  of  the  county  containing  all  four  of 
its  cities— Yonkers  with  100,000,  Mount  Vernon  with  43,000,  New 
Rochelle  with  36,000,  and  White  Plains  with  21,000.  In  addition  to 
the  cities,  the  county  has  three  villages  of  over  10,000  population 
and  five  of  between  5,000  and  10,000.  The  remainder  of  its  popu- 
lation is  scattered  through  some  72  small  villages,  in  rural  hamlets 
of  two  or  three  houses. or  on  isolated  farms,  the  northeastern  hill 
country  being  very  thinly  settled,  difficult  of  access,  and  exceedingly 
rural  in  appearance.  In  spite  of  its  nearness  to  New  York  City 
and  the  fact  that  five  railroads  run  north  into  it,  it  has  towns  un- 
touched by  any  railroad  line,  and  in  certain  sections  its  roads  become 

practically  impassable  in  a  bad  winter.     Like  all  Now  York  State 

z _ _ 

1  This  manuscript  was  completed  in  February,  1922. 

109 


110  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR  CHILD  , CARE. 

counties,  "Westchester  is  divided  into  the  usual  city  and  town  sub- 
divisions, having  in  addition  to  the  4  cities  mentioned  18  towns 
or  townships.  Foremost  among  the  causes  of  the  county's  social 
problems  may  be  mentioned  its  steadily  increasing  percentage  of 
foreign-born  population,  a  large  commuting  population,  the  num- 
ber of  estates  within  its  borders  with  their  large  employee  class, 
its  very  slight  farming  and  large  manufacturing  interests,  and  its 
nearness  to  New  York  City  and  to  the  States  of  Connecticut  and 
New  Jersey,  this  latter  fact  much  complicating  the  administration 
of  its  poor  law. 

CONDITIONS  BEFORE  THE  EXPERIMENT  BEGAN. 

Child  care  in  1914. 

Such,  briefly,  was  the  field  presented  for  Westchester's  experiment 
in  the  care  of  its  dependent  classes,  which  may  be  said  to  date  from 
January  1,  1914,  when  a  new  superintendent  of  the  poor  took  office 
in  the  county.  Although  the  work  for  dependent  children  is  but  one 
phase  of  the  experiment,  it  is  the  only  one  that  can  be  discussed 
here.  The  chaos  existing  in  the  care  of  dependent  children  in  West- 
chester in  1914  can  be  understood  only  by  one  who  has  had  ex- 
perience in  similar  fields.  It  is  possible  now  to  describe  it  with  some 
accuracy,  but  at  that  time  most  of  its  factors  were  unknown  to  the 
new  official  who  was  attempting  to  get  a  basis  of  data  upon  which  to 
begin  work.  The  county  was  following  the  town  and  city  system  of 
caring  for  its  poor,  which  is  allowed  by  the  New  York  State  poor 
law.  About  700  children  under  the  age  of  16  were  being  supported 
in  institutions  at  the  expense  of  the  various  cities  and  towns.  The 
institutions  caring  for  them  were  more  than  20  in  number  and  were 
located  throughout  the  county,  in  New  York  City,  and  in  adjoining 
counties  as  far  north  as  Albany.  These  children  had  been  com- 
mitted by  poor-law  officials  on  the  general  charge  of  -destitution, 
or  by  courts  on  the  charge  of  "no  proper  guardianship,"  of  juvenile 
delinquency,  vagrancy,  or  truancy,  or  as  disorderly,  or  ungovernable. 
Bills  for  their  care  were  being  paid  not  directly  through  the  officials 
who  committed  them  and  who,  therefore,  would  know  whether  or 
not  the  children  were  in  the  institutions  and  were  proper  charges 
but  through  the  oflice  of  the  county  superintendent  of  the  poor. 
The  committing  officials  were  required  by  law  to  notify  the  super- 
intendent of  the  poor  of  their  commitments  in  a  few  types  of  cases 
only;  even  this  was  rarely  done.  In  addition  to  the  children  cared 
for  in  institutions,  a  few  of  the  officials  boarded  children  directly 
with  private  families  and  paid  for  their  care  from  their  own  relief 
funds.  One  official  who  did  this  most  frequently  kept  no  record  < 
even  of  the  homes  in  which  he  had  boarded  the  children,  and  was4 


WESTCHESTER   COUNTY.  Ill 

reminded  to  pay  for  their  care  only  as  the  boarding  mothers  came 
to  his  office  to  collect.  No  one  except  himself  knew  who  his  wards 
were,  or  where  they  were,  in  spite  of  attempts  of  the  State  board  of 
charities  to  secure  reports  from  him.  There  was  no  system  of  written 
records  of  children  anywhere  in  the  county,  and  there  was  no  one 
county  official,  or  group  of  officials,  who  had  any  definite  knowledge 
of  the  county  child-caring  situation  other  than  that  gained  from  the 
cases  of  the  children  that  he  himself  committed  or  boarded  out. 

Family  relief  existed  only  in  the  form  of  the  old-fashioned  out- 
door relief.  There  was  as  yet  no  "board  of  child  welfare  act  "  pro- 
viding for  allowances  to  widowed  mothers;  overseers  of  the  poor 
and  commissioners  of  charities  administered  local  funds  largely  in 
the  form  of  grocery  orders,  with  occasional  grants  of  coal  or  cloth- 
ing. Little  or  no  investigating  was  done ;  few  records  were  kept ; 
and  practically  nowhere  was  any  attempt  made  to  work  out  a  con- 
structive plan  for  the  unfortunate  family  or  individual  in  need,  or 
to  estimate  what  would  be  adequate  relief  for  a  given  family  and 
to  provide  such  relief.  It  was  generally  considered  that  $2.50  or 
$3  was  a  sufficient  weekly  grocery  order  for  any  family,  whether  its 
members  numbered  3  or  10.  Little  or  no  attention  was  paid  by  the 
public  to  the  workings  of  the  system,  and  for  the  most  part  it  was 
just  what  similar  outdoor  relief  systems  have  been  in  other  parts 
of  the  country. 

Machinery  for  handling  the  problem. 

As  equipment  for  handling  its  needy  children,  Westchester  had 
the  usual  machinery  of  a  New  York  State  county.  Many  agencies 
had  the  authority  to  break  up  families.  Approximately  94  police 
justices,  justices  of  the  peace,  and  city  court  judges  had  the  power 
to  commit  children  to  public  support  for  juvenile  delinquency  or 
"no  proper  guardianship";  at  least  32  town  overseers  of  the  poor 
and  city  commissioners  of  charities  could  commit  children  as  public 
charges  for  destitution.  Thus,  there  were  over  126  agencies  in  the 
county  empowered  to  separate  children  from  their  parents.  These 
petty  officials  were  all  elected  or  appointed  through  the  workings  of 
a  political  system,  and  not  because  of  any  special  fitness  or  training 
for  their  general  duties,  much  less  for  the  delicate  task  of  planning 
care  for  children.  Their  method-  of  work  were  on  the  whole  as 
good  as  they  knew  how  to  make  them,  but  were  entirely  inadequate. 
For  the  most  part,  there  was  no  investigation  of  children's  cases  and 
no  study  of  family  situations.  Children  brought  into  court  on 
charges  of  delinquency  were  either  committed  or  discharged  on  the 
evidence  submitted  at  the  time.  The  poor-law  officials  sometimes 
made  a  brief  effort  at  investigation,  of  which  the  chief  result  was  an 
interview    with   the   parent   of   the  child   or   with   some   inteiv 


112  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

neighbor  or  relative.  Rarely  was  any  record  kept  either  of  the  com- 
mitment or  of  the  child's  history;  the  slip  of  admission  to  the  in- 
stitution generally  constituted  the  entire  written  record  of  the  trans- 
action. Since  the  officials  were  in  many  cases  men  of  little  educa- 
tion or  training,  and  since  they  were  largely  unconscious  of  the 
importance  of  such  records  to  the  human  beings  involved,  mistakes 
in  names,  ages,  and  other  important  facts  were  the  rule  rather  than 
the  exception.  Very  seldom  was  the  date  of  birth  entered  on  a  com- 
mitment slip,  and  many  hundreds  of  former  Westchester  County 
charges  have  no  definite  idea  of  their  exact  ages. 

Little,  if  any,  intelligence  was  exercised  in  the  selection  of  the 
places  to  which  children  were  committed.  Protestant  and  Catholic 
children  were  usually,  but  not  always,  sent  to  institutions  of  their 
own  religious  faith.  Generally  a  child  was  committed  to  the  nearest 
institution  willing  to  receive  him,  regardless  of  its  fitness  for  his 
particular  type,  Likewise,  comparatively  little  attention  was  paid 
to  the  manner  in  which  a  child  was  made  a  public  charge.  Children 
were  committed  by  courts  or  poor-law  officers  with  slight  regard  to 
the  particular  circumstances  in  each  case.  In  case  of  court  commit- 
ment, children  were  charged  with  lacking  proper  guardianship  or 
with  juvenile  delinquency,  as  seemed  most  convenient,  with  little 
thought  of  the  difference  this  made  in  the  status  and  treatment  of 
the  child.  After  commitment  most  officials  paid  no  further  attention 
to  their  wards.  Here  and  there  an  official  especially  concerned  wTith 
the  tax  rate  in  his  district  periodically  interested  himself  in  reducing 
the  number  of  its  dependents,  often  with  the  result  that  parents 
were  compelled,  without  investigation  as  to  their  fitness  or  ability, 
to  take  back  children  previously  committed  or  that  children  were 
placed  in  foster  homes  with  no  investigation  and  without  the  keeping 
of  any  record.  As  a  result  of  this  situation  and  of  the  general  Xew 
York  State  system  of  paying  public  funds  to  private  institutions  for 
the  care  of  children,  the  number  of  dependent  children  in  "West- 
chester— as  elsewhere  in  New  York  State — tended  constantly  to  in- 
crease. Xot  only  were  children  unnecessarily  committed  as  public 
charges,  but  children  once  committed  were  lost  sight  of  and  often 
remained  public  charges  for  indefinite  periods. 

Many  years  before,  in  an  attempt  to  fight  the  increase  in  bills  for 
child  care,  the  county  board  of  supervisors  had  appointed  two  so- 
called  placihg-out  agents,  whose  duty  it  was  to  secure  free  foster 
homes  for  Westchester  County  charges,  and  whose  salaries  and  ex- 
penses were  paid  from  county  funds.  These  agents  were  connected 
with  the  office  of  the  county  superintendent  of  the  poor;  they  worked, 
however,  with  no  supervision  and  with  little  relationship  to  each 
•other.  Both  were  untrained.  They  had  no  offices  and  worked  en- 
tirely independently,  one  handling  Catholic  cases  only,  the  other 


WESTCHESTER   COUNTY.  113 

Protestant.  Each  traveled  about  over  the  area  of  the  entire  county. 
It  often  happened,  therefore,  that  both  made  trips  to  the  same  dis- 
tant part  of  the  territory  during  the  same  week,  with  corresponding 
loss  of  time  and  money.  Moreover,  their  duties  were  Aery  unevenly 
divided,  one  worker  having  four  or  five  times  as  many  cases  to  handle 
as  the  other.  Their  actual  work  consisted  largely  in  trying  to  place 
babies  or  very  young  children  in  free  foster  homes,  and  in  securing 
working  homes  or  positions  at.  service  for  older  children  whom  the 
institutions  were  ready  to  discharge.  These  agents  represented  the 
county's  single  effort  to  give  specialized  attention  to  its  child-caring 
problem. 

County  superintendent  of  the  poor. 

Over  this  decentralized,  indefinite,  and  confused  system  stood  the 
superintendent  of  the  poor  in  a  position  possibly  more  uncertain  and 
indefinite  than  any  other.  His  powers  were  largely  negative  and 
contradictory.  According  to  the  law  he  could,  apparently,  commit 
children,  although  he  could  not  make  them  charges  upon  any  unit 
except  the  county.  He  could  discharge  children  from  public  care 
whether  they  had  been  committed  by  himself  or  by  an  overseer.  He 
was  required  by  law  to  pay  bills  for  all  children  committed  as 
juvenile  delinquents,  but  he  had  no  power  whatever  over  either  the 
commitment  or  the  discharge  of  such  children.  Neither  had  he  any 
power  over  the  commitment  of  children  for  "  no  proper  guardian- 
ship," though  he  could  refuse  to  pay  bills  for  their  care.  In  fact, 
all  children  committed  by  the  courts  passed  into  the  control  of  the 
institutions — generally  private — to  which  they  were  committed,  and 
these  institutions  alone  had  power  to  discharge  them.  Yet  all  bills 
for  the  care  of  such  children  in  institutions  passed  through  the  office 
of  the  superintendent  of  the  poor  and  were  paid  by  him  from  funds 
in  his  control.  Moreover,  the  poor  law 2  stated  that  the  county 
superintendents  of  the  poor  had  charge  of  "  the  general  superintend- 
ence and  care  of  poor  persons  who  might  be  in  their  respective 
counties."  This  responsibility  seemed  to  cover  the  care  of  persons 
under  16  as  well  as  of  adults.  As  a  result  of  the  vagueness  of  the 
whole  situation,  superintendents  of  the  poor  in  Westchester  County 
previous  to  1914  had  done  practically  nothing  in  the  child-caring 
field,  merely  paying  bills  when  the  institutions  presented  them  and 
leaving  all  investigation  and  after  care  to  be  done  by  the  local 
officials  or  the  institutions  at  will. 

First  steps  toward  improvement. 

The  administration  which  came  into  power  in  l'.M  1  saw  in  the 
needs  of  the  county's  dependent  children  its  greatest   responsibility 

2  N.  Y.  Consol.  Laws  1909,  Vol.  IV,  p.  2862   (Art.  II,  sec.  3). 


114  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR  CHILD   CARE. 

and  opportunity.  Although  greatly  occupied  during  his  first  yea* 
in  office  with  immediate  and  pressing  problems  in  the  county  alias- 
house  and  hospitals,  the  new  superintendent  of  the  poor  instituted 
at  once  some  simple  and  obvious  reforms  in  the  children's  field.  The 
two  placing-out  agents  were  brought  directly  under  the  supervision 
of  his  office,  their  work  was  coordinated  and  standardized,  and  its 
nature  changed  from  that  of  placing-out  agent  to  much  more  needed 
work  of  a  general  type.  Obviously,  the  first  duty  of  the  office  of 
the  superintendent  of  the  poor,  with  reference  to  children,  was  that 
of  auditing  bills  for  the  board  of  children  in  institutions.  There 
was  no  list  or  card  index  of  children  duly  committed  as  public 
charges  upon  the  county  and  no  possible  way  of  checking  bills 
accurately.  In  order  to  begin  immediately  to  get  this  situation  under 
control  very  simple  admission  and  discharge  cards  were  printed  and 
distributed  to  all  institutions  receiving  Westchester  County  charges, 
with  the  request  that  they  fill  out  such  cards  for  all  Westchester 
County  children  admitted  or  discharged  and  mail  them  immediately 
to  the  superintendent's  office.  Thus  the  beginning  of  a  record  of 
the  work  of  local  officials  was  secured.  Admission  cards,  when 
received,  were  verified,  and  all  new  commitments  were  properly  card- 
indexed  and  recorded.  Up  to  this  time  institution  bills  had  been 
paid  in  a  few  instances  quarterly,  but  generally  only  once  a  year. 
Monthly  payment  of  all  bills  was  now  begun,  and  institutions  were 
urged  to  send  in  bills  promptly  in  order  to  secure  prompt  payment. 
This  and  the  abolition  of  the  custom  of  holding  unpaid  bills  over 
indefinitely  from  one  fiscal  year  into  another  greatly  encouraged  the 
institutions  to  cooperate  with  the  new  administration  in  reporting 
admissions  and  discharges.  A  monthly  report  of  all  children  charged 
against  each  poor-law  district  was  instituted,  and  local  supervisors 
and  commissioners  of  charities  were  thus  kept  informed  of  the 
status  of  charges  against  their  localities. 

But  this  activity  covered  only  children  newly  becoming  dependent. 
The  biggest  single  piece  of  work  immediately  undertaken  was  the 
preparing  of  an  accurate  census  of  all  children  who  were  then  public 
charges  upon  the  county  of  Westchester.  This  seemingly  obvious 
need  had  never  been  recognized,  although  bills  for  children's  care  had 
been  audited  and  paid  every  year.  All  receipted  institution  bills  for 
the  previous  year  were  studied,  and  a  card  index  was  made  of  all 
children  still  remaining  public  charges  on  the  date  of  the  latest  bills. 
The  children's  agents  were  then  directed  to  visit  each  institution  and 
to  see  personally  every  child  reported  to  be  dependent  upon  West- 
chester County,  verifying  upon  this  visit  as  many  facts  as  possible 
regarding  him  and  his  commitment.  Mistakes  without  number  were 
discovered.  Children  dead  for  some  years  were  still  being  carried 
upon  the  bills,  and  many  New  York  City  charges  were  found  to  have 


WKS1V ULSTER   COUNTY.  115 

been  charged  against  Westchester  County  by  mistake.  Difficulty  was 
encountered  in  locating  some  of  the  institutions  having  legal  claims 
against  the  county  for  the  support  of  children.  Six  months  after  the 
new  administration  had  begun  the  superintendent  received  a  bill 
dating  back  for  six  years  from  an  institution  in  which  he  had  not 
known  that  any  Westchester  County  wards  were  being  cared  for. 
Investigation  showed  that  the  institution  actually  had  at  that  time 
children  who  were  charges  against  the  county,  and  that  the  bill  was 
a  proper  one. 

It  was  immediately  evident  that  because  of  the  chaos  in  the  child- 
caring  work  and  the  many  needs  of  this  class  of  dependents  more 
and  better  trained  workers  were  essential,  and  that  county-wide  in- 
terest and  cooperation  must  be  aroused  and  maintained  in  order  that 
the  superintendent  of  the  poor  might  be  assured  of  the  opportunity 
to  handle  the  problem  satisfactorily.  Private  funds  were  raised  by 
the  superintendent  to  furnish  immediately  two  additional  children's 
workers,  and  with  the  help  of  the  county  agencies  department  of  the 
New  York  State  Charities  Aid  Association  a  practically  defunct  sub- 
committee of  that  association  was  galvanized  into  action.  The  county 
official  presented  the  needs  of  his  wards  to  this  little  group  of  private 
citizens,  took  them  into  partnership,  and  asked  their  advice  ami  assist- 
ance. They  organized  the  Westchester  County  Children's  Committee 
of  the  New  York  State  Charities  Aid  Association,  which  was  enlisted 
as  assistant  to  the  superintendent  of  the  poor  in  the  care  of  dependent 
children,  and  which  as  a  first  step  guaranteed  to  furnish  the  salary 
and  expenses  of  a  children's  agent  in  addition  to  those  already  pro- 
vided for.  The  best  possible  trained  social  workers  were  secured  in 
the  new  positions.  The  old  custom  of  assigning  cases  on  the  ground 
of  religious  faith  was  abolished,  the  county  was  divided  into  four  dis- 
tricts with  a  worker  in  charge  of  each,  and,  after  a  fairly  accurate 
census  of  the  children  already  dependent  had  been  built  ap,  the  be- 
ginnings of  a  case-work  system  were  made.  Face  sheets  and  record 
forms  were  printed,  and  a  system  of  records  wras  started. 

The  only  concrete  case  work  to  begin  on  was  the  investigation  &i 
the  cases  of  children  who  were  already  public  charges.  Here  only 
did  the  superintendent  of  the  poor  have  a  reasonably  clear  field.  The 
provision  of  the  poor  law  giving  him  the  "  general  superintendence 
and  care"  of  all  poor  persons  within  his  territory  was  deemed  bo  be 
sufficient  authorization  for  him  to  take  an  active  Interest  in  all  de- 
pendent children.  Some  of  the  7<>0  children  already  dependent  had 
been  public  charges  for  over  1"  years,  yet  in  practically  no  ea 
did  records  exist  of  them  or  of  their  families.  Here  was  challenge 
enough  for  anyone.  The  agents  began  the  difficult  task  of  Lnve 
gating  the  histories  of  these  children  and,  so  far  as  they  could,  of 
doing  whatever  seemed  necessary  to  improve  their  condition.    Actual 


116  COrX'I'V    ORGANIZATION   FOR  CHILD   CARE. 

cisc  treatment,  however,  could  be  accomplished  only  through  oo- 
operation,  because  of  the  division  of  responsibility  for  dependent 
children  which  has  already  been  described.  The  entire  power  over 
juvenile  delinquents  after  commitment  rested  with  the  institutions, 
and  it  was  only  with  their  full  consent  that  such  cases  could  be 
worked  with  at  all.  The  problem,  therefore,  was  distinctly  compli- 
cated. However,  almost  from  the  first,  the  hearty  cooperation  of  all 
persons  concerned  was  granted  to  the  new  department,  and  thus  real 
progress  was  made  in  the  work. 

Indications  of  need  for  preventive  work. 

Complete  investigations  of  the  cases  of  children  already  separated 
from  their  families  showed  how  unsatisfactory  much  of  this  treat- 
ment was  and  how  essential  to  adequate  care  for  children  is  complete 
investigation,  at  the  beginning,  of  their  need.  The  inquiries  showed 
that  it  would  be  not  only  more  humane  but  much  more  economical 
to  prevent  the  separation  of  families  by  thorough  case  work  rather 
than  to  try  to  bring  them  together  again  after  they  had  been  sepa- 
rated. The  investigation  of  applications  for  commitment,  therefore, 
was  clearly  indicated  to  be  the  fundamental  point  of  attack  for  the 
department.  Here  nothing  but  the  complete  cooperation  of  local 
officials  was  of  use,  since  any  one  of  126  men  could  separate  children 
from  their  parents  without  any  investigation  or  any  previous  notice 
whatever  to  the  county  superintendent.  The  children's  agents  were 
instructed  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  get  acquainted  with  the  commit- 
ting officials  in  their  districts,  to  offer  their  services  and  explain 
their  aims,  and,  wherever  opportunity  was  given,  to  investigate  for 
these  officials  the  cases  of  children  coming  to  their  attention.  From 
the  first  some  slight  headway  in  preventing  family  breakdown  and 
dependency  was  made  in  this  way;  everything  gained  was  an  ad- 
vance, but  the  method  was  very  slow. 

Separation  of  child-caring  work  from  work  for  adults. 

As  the  child-caring  work  unfolded  from  month  to  month  it  became 
increasingly  difficult  for  the  superintendent  of  the  poor  and  his 
assistant,  to  carry  the  supervision  of  this  branch  of  the  work,  as  well 
as  the  mass  of  detail  and  difficulties  of  administration  of  the  alms- 
house and  hospitals.  By  1915  it  was  evident  that  the  children's  work 
must  be  handled  separately  and  that  some  one  especially  equipped  for 
the  purpose  was  needed.  Through  private  funds  a  trained  social 
worker  was  employed  to  be  the  director  of  a  children's  department 
unofficially  organized  in  the  office  of  the  superintendent  of  the  poor, 
and  a  stenographer  was  employed  to  assist  her.  This  department 
now  took  on  a  separate  though  unofficial  existence  apart  from  the 
almshouse  and  its  problems. 


WESTCHESTEK   COUNTY.  117 

The  need  for  increased  attention  to  the  children's  work  had  now 
been  sufficiently  demonstrated  to  make  advisable  an  appeal  for  addi- 
tional workers  paid  from  public  funds,  and  the  superintendent  of 
the  poor  urgently  requested  of  the  county  board  of  supervisors  at 
their  annual  meeting  an  appropriation  to  cover  the  salary  and  ex- 
penses of  three  additional  workers.  This  was  granted.  Special 
effort  was  made  to  advise  the  civil  service  commission  of  the  needs 
of  the  position,  in  order  that  the  right  tj^pe  of  examination  might 
be  given,  and  great  personal  effort  was  put  forth  to  interest  promis- 
ing social  workers  in  taking  it.  As  a  result  three  satisfactory  work- 
ers were  secured.  One  agent  was  assigned  to  at  least  half-time  work 
in  the  main  office  of  the  agency  to  help  in  developing  its  system  of 
reports  and  records,  getting  its  card  indexes  and  files  in  proper 
running  order,  and  organizing  its  business  methods  generally.  As 
no  space  was  available  in  any  other  county  building,  the  parlor  of 
the  old  almshouse  was  used  as  an  office.  Monthly  conferences  of  the 
staff  were  begun,  all  members  of  the  volunteer  children's  committee 
being  welcome,  at  which  case  problems  were  carefully  discussed. 
With  its  increase  in  staff  and  the  publicity  attending  it.  the  work 
now  developed  very  rapidly.  This  development  revealed  more  and 
more  the  amazing  lack  in  the  past  of  any  kind  of  proper  social  or 
business  procedure  in  the  management  of  this  branch  of  the  public's 
affairs.  To  those  who  had  the  opportunity  to  work  in  the  county 
at  this  time  it  remains  a  source  of  wonder  that  one  of  the  foremost 
counties  in  one  of  the  foremost  States  in  the  country  could  have 
handled  an  extensive  and  costly  child-caring  problem  in  so  crude  and 
inadequate  a  way. 

New  developments  in  work  for  children. 

Lines  of  activity  opened  up  so  rapidly  that  the  staff  was  tempted 
to  undertake  too  much  and  to  spread  its  efforts  over  too  wide  a 
field.  For  a  case-work  organization  its  growth  for  several  years  was 
dangerously  rapid.  After  the  investigations  of  the  cases' of  children 
who  had  been  for  some  time  dependent  were  well  under  way.  it  be- 
came obvious  that  much  should  be  done  toward  securing  free  foster 
homes  for  those  who  had  no  family  or  friends  to  whom  they  could 
ever  return.  According  to  the  New  York  State  poor  law  the  county 
superintendent  and  the  town  overseers  of  the  poor  have  the  right  to 
place  out  children  in  free  family  homes  within  the  limits  of  the 
State.  Former  superintendents  in  "Westchester  County,  aided  by 
the  placing-out  agents,  had  exercised  this  power,  and  the  new  ad- 
ministration succeeded  in  listing  11  children  who  were  still  under 
age  and  who  should  have  been  under  its  active  supervision.  In  many 
eases  it  found  that  the  placement  of  the  children  had  been  unwise; 
on  the  whole,  adequate  records  had  not  been  kept,  and  an  occasional 


118  COUNTY    ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

child  had  been  Lost  truck  of  entirely.  So  difficult  was  it  for  the 
county  agency  to  place  its  children  wisely  and  with  a  sufficient 
choice  of  homes,  while  at  the  same  time  keeping  them  near  enough 
ils  home  territory  to  make  adequate  supervision  practicable,  and  so 
poor  did  much  of  its  past  free-home  placement  work  seem,  that  the 
new  administration  decided  to  discontinue  the  practice  of  placing 
its  children  and  being  directly  responsible  for  their  supervision.  It 
determined  instead  to  offer  them  for  free-home  placement  to  well- 
recognized  incorporated  organizations  which  make  a  specialty  of  this 
one  type  of  work,  giving  these  associations  service  in  the  finding  and 
investigating  of  homes  and  even  in  the  supervision  of  the  children 
a  fter  placement,  but  leaving  with  them  the  responsibility  for  main- 
taining  high  standards  for  foster  homes  and  for  seeing  that  the 
children  were  adequately  visited  and  supervised.  The  cooperation 
of  various  placing-out  agencies  was  asked  and  that  of  the  Child 
Placing  Agency  of  the  New  York  State  Charities  Aid  Association 
was  actively  enlisted.  The  county  department  itself  conducted  a 
drive  for  free  homes  for  its  children  and  actively  set  about  assisting 
in  securing  the  placement  with  foster  families  of  as  many  of  its 
wards  as  possible. 

The  work  with  children  who  had  been  previously  committed  dis- 
closed the  fact  that  little  was  being  done  anywhere  throughout  the 
country — nothing  systematically — toward  making  parents  and  rela- 
tives pay  the  board  of  children  for  whom  they  were  unable  to  care 
in  their  own  homes.  It  was  the  custom  for  a  man  to  be  entirely 
relieved  of  his  children's  support  when  they  were  committed  to 
institutions,  regardless  of  his  income,  and  even  the  local  officials 
usually  considered  that  this  was.  a  proper  procedure  and  were  loath 
to  make  any  effort  to  disturb  the  man's  complacency.  The  children's 
department  realized  the  great  injustice  of  this,  not  only  to  the  tax- 
payers in  the  added  burden  it  placed  upon  them,  but  also  to  the 
children  in  that  it  made  possible  the  weakening  of  parental  responsi- 
bility and  family  ties.  The  department  adopted  the  policy  of  ex- 
pecting parents,  when  they  were  financially  able,  to  support  their 
children  in  whole  or  in  part,  whether  or  not  they  could  provide  homes 
for  them. 

Then,  too,  it  was  evident  that  juvenile  delinquents  who  had  been 
supported  for  several  years  at  the  expense  of  the  taxpayers  were 
often  returned  to  the  very  families  and  environments  in  which  they 
had  been  living  when  they  got  into  trouble,  without  thorough  in- 
vestigation and  with  little  or  no  provision  against  the  recurrence 
of  the  difficulty.  This  often  resulted  in  its  repetition  and  the  recom- 
mitment of  the  child,  who  was  thus  started  on  the  way  to  a  life  of 
delinquency.    Friendly  relations  were  established  with  the  two  insti- 


wkstchkster  county.  119 

tut  ions  receiving  most  of  the  county's  juvenile  delinquents.  Their 
cooperation  was  secured  and,  although  the  power  of  decision  under 
the  law  rested  with  the  institutions,  the  children's  agents  undertook 
the  investigation  of  applications  for  the  discharge  of  juvenile  <!■ 
quents  and  submitted  to  the  institutions  recommendation  as  to 
disposition  of  the  cases.  For  the  most  part  these  recommendations 
were  followed,  and  some  little  gain  was  made  in  the  proper  handling 
of  the  children. 

In  the  field  of  new  commitments,  where  the  vital  interest  of  the 
department  lay,  effort  was  now  increased  to  secure  the  cooperation 
of  committing  officials.  With  the  larger  staff  the  department  felt 
better  able  to  cope  with  additional  work,  and  a  letter  was  sent  to 
every  committing  official  in  the  county,  both  court  and  poor  law, 
telling  him  of  the  department  and  its  workers,  and  offering  assistance 
in  the  investigation  of  any  cases  where  commitment  was  sought. 
The  results  were  immediate  and  gratifying.  In  one  year  officials 
referred  to  the  agents  for  investigation  the  cases  of  435  children  for 
whom  commitment  was  sought  by  parents,  relatives,  or  interested 
citizens.  In  only  107  of  these  cases  did  the  agents  after  investigation 
report  back  recommendations  for  commitment  and  hence  for  the 
public  support  of  the  children.  Thus  the  rate  of  increase  in  the 
number  of  child  dependents  in  the  county  was  materially  checked. 
All  this  gave  courage  to  the  new  administration  to  press  its  points. 

Boarding-home  and  mothers'  allowance  work  begun. 

Most  of  the  institutions  available  to  Westchester  County  for  the 
care  of  its  children  were  congregate  institutions,  many  of  them  with 
populations  of  500  and  over.  Try  as  they  might,  these  institutions 
could  not  conceivably  meet  the  needs  of  little  children  or  growing 
boys  and  girls,  whose  problems  could  be  solved  only  by  individual 
treatment.  The  urgency  for  more  specialized  core  was  evident, 
and  the  department  began  the  search  for  suitable  family  b 
homes.  These  proved  difficult  to  find.  However,  a  start-  was  made, 
and  during  the  first  year  of  its  existence  as  a  separate  agency  54  chil- 
dren in  need  of  public  support  were  placed  in  family  boarding  ho- 
by  the  department. 

Important  as  the  need  for  all  these  chan_  ied,  the 

ment  found  that  the  greatest  need  for  change,  in  its  s©<  ial  treatment 
of  children  was  in   the  ease   of  children   with   good   mothers.      The 
superintendent  of  the  poor  could  legally  incur  bills  to  the  amoui  : 
$'2.  per  day  for  the  care  of  a  child  in  an  institution,  and  this  lie 
doing   constantly    for   children    committed    to   hospitals,      lie    could 
not.  however,  spend  one.  cent  to  give  the  same  children  fare  with  their 
own  mothers.    A  few  cases  of  widows  with  large  families  of  child) 
whom  it  would  have  been  not  only  humane  but  actually  cheaper  to 


120  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR  CHILD   CARE. 

keep  in  their  own  homes,  threw  this  situation  into  strong  relief,  and 
a  way  was  sought  out  of  the  difficulty  of  either  breaking  up  families 
or  leaving  them  without  adequate  support.  In  the  poor  law3  was 
found  a  provision,  which  had  been  inserted  at  the  time  when  the 
commitment  of  children  to  almshouses  in  New  York  State  had  been 
prohibited,  authorizing  county  boards  of  supervisors  to  take  such  steps 
as  were  necessary  to  carry  out  that  prohibition.  The  Westchester 
Board  of  Supervisors  was  persuaded  to  interpret  this  section  of  the 
law  in  its  broadest  sense,  and  to  make  a  small  appropriation  to  the 
county  superintendent  of  the  poor  for  the  granting  of  regular 
monthly  allowances  to  dependent  mothers  with  young  children. 
Fourteen  such  families  were  immediately  granted  allowances,  and 
the  beginning4  of  the  county  mothers'  allowance  sj^stem  was  made. 

Increase  in  work  made  possible  by  additional  staff. 

The  second  year  of  the  work  of  this  unofficial  department  was  one 
of  continuing  rapid  growth  and  development.  The  county  board  of 
supervisors  created  two  new  positions  upon  the  staff,  and  private 
funds  were  raised,  largely  through  the  Westchester  County  Chil- 
dren's Committee,  for  five  additional  workers.  In  the  creation  of 
these  positions  and  in  the  selection  of  the  workers  two  principles 
were  involved  which  have  throughout  marked  conspicuously  the  de- 
velopment of  the  department.  In  the  first  place,  with  the  new  posi- 
tions, as  with  those  created  formerly,  the  administration  took  a  firm 
stand  for  specialized  trained  service  and  for  choice  of  workers  on 
the  basis  of  merit  alone.  With  both  publicly  and  privately  paid 
positions  it  has  always  held  firmly  to  this  principle,  resisting  every 
attempt,  at  political  pressure;  and,  as  its  policy  has  become  known,  it 
has  been  increasingly  free  from  any  efforts  to  influence  it.  Second, 
this  public  agency  has  always  encouraged  and  urged  private  citizens 
to  share  its  responsibilities  and  opportunities.  No  study  of  the  de- 
velopment of  the  Westchester  County  Department  of  Child  Welfare 
should  be  made  by  anyone  seriously  interested  in  the  Westchester 
system  without  a  corresponding  study  of  the  development  of  the 
Westchester  County  Children's  Committee.  From  the  beginning, 
the  county  superintendent  of  the  poor  did  all  in  his  power  to  stimu- 
late and  encourage  the  growth  of  the  private  organization,  acting 
definitely  on  the  belief  that  dependent  children  supported  by  tax 
money  are  the  responsibility  of  the  taxpayers  and  private  citizens  as 
well  as  of  the  elected  officials  entrusted  with  their  care,  and  that  it 
is  the  obligation  of  the  citizens  both  to  help  the  children  directly  and 
to  aid  and  stimulate  the  officials  to  do  their  duty. 

3  N.  Y.  Consol.  Laws,  ch.  42,  Art.  4,  sec.  56. 

4  On  March  1,  1915.  See  Report  of  the  Children's  Department,  by  the  Superintendent 
of  the  Poor  of  Westchester  County,  for  Year  Ending  October  31,  1915,  p.  10. 


WESTCHESTER   COUNTY.  121 

Indeed,  the  children's  department  has  from  its  start  developed  the 
private  organization  almost  as  a  part  of  itself,  the  director  for  several 
years  serving  as  the  unsalaried  executive  of  the  Westchester  County 
Children's  Committee.  Public  and  private  funds  were  thus  combined 
to  furnish  a  unified  plan  of  child  care  for  the  county.  While  the 
effect  of  this  cooperation  was  perhaps  most  immediately  obvious  in 
the  increased  staff  of  the  public  agency,  this  was  only  a  part  of  the 
help  given,  the  less  tangible  influence  of  public  interest  and  moral 
support  being  a  vital  asset  to  the  growing  work.  Much  of  the  value 
of  the  work  of  the  department  of  child  welfare  and  much  of  the  hope 
for  its  future  rest  with  the  Westchester  County  Children's  Associa- 
tion, which  has  developed  side  by  side  with  the  public  agency.5 

The  additions  to  the  staff  of  the  children's  department  made  possi- 
ble a  redisricting  of  the  county  for  case-work  purposes,  and  the  orig- 
inal four  districts  were  redivided  into  six.  With  the  added  work 
rapidly  placed  upon  the  department,  this  new  division  was  most  ad- 
vantageous. The  acute  epidemic  of  poliomyelitis  which  affected  many 
of  the  Eastern  States  during  19 1G  was  very  disastrous  in  Westchester 
County,  over  600  cases  being  reported.  The  department  cooperated 
actively  with  the  State  department  of  health  and  with  a  local  group 
that  organized  for  the  purpose  of  providing  aftercare  for  afflicted 
children,  and  from  that  time  undertook  and  carried  on  all  social- 
service  and  relief  work  needed  by  such  cases.  In  order  to  make  pos- 
sible the  use  of  the  department's  staff  for  work  on  cases  not  of  public 
dependents,  the  "  aftercare  committee  "  from  its  funds  furnished  the 
salary  and  expenses  for  an  additional  member  of  the  department's 
staff. 

Despite  this  new  type  of  work  the  boarding-out  work  was  doubled 
during  the  year,  more  children  thus  being  given  the  advantage  of 

BThe  Westchester  County  Children's  Association  is  to-day  an  organization  of  3,000 
citizens  of  the  county  with  a  paid  staff  oC  stx  workers  and  with  an  animal  budgi 
$35,000,  of  which  $15,000  is  expended  in  connection  with  the  work  of  the  department  of 
child  welfare.  The  avowed  purpose  of  the  association  is  "  to  promote  the  welfare  of 
children  in  Westchester  County."  Its  membershipi  is  open  to  any  interested  person, 
and  the  dues  for  its  lowest  class  of  membership  are  $2  a  year.  Its  constitution  provides 
for  a  number  of  standing  committees  which,  among  them,  aim  to  cover  the  entire  Held 
of  child  care.  Among  these  are  the  committees  on  education,  child  labor  and  school 
attendance,  family  and  community  problems,  health  and  recreation,  legislation,  ami 
publicity,  and  the  committee  on  special  care  and  relief,  under  whose  particular  charge 
comes  the  relation  of  the  association  to  thi  department  of  child  welfare,  it  is  the 
business  of  each  committee  to  plan,  develop,  and  supervise  the  work  of  the  as-...  w* t i •  > 1 1 
in  its  particular  field.  The  association  aims  to  interest  and  to  hold  its  members  through 
a  system  of  district  branches  covering  th<  territory  of  the  entire  County,  each  branch 
being  an  integral  part  of  the  association,  assisting  in  all  phases  of  its  work  ami  helping 
to  formulate  its  policies,  but  being  free  within  itself  to  cany  on  any  special  phfi 
work  in  which  it  has  interest,  provided  only  that  it  remains  in  harmony  with  I 
interests  of  the  organization.  Among  the  developments  of  some  of  the  local  branch)  < 
are  case  committees,  which  exist  tor  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  agents  of  the  department 
of  child  welfare  in  their  field  work.  Thus  the  public  department  has  in  this  private 
association  a  strong  right  hand  without  which  it  could  not  successfully  carry  on  many 
of  its  present   activities 

111532°— 22 9 


122  COUNTY  ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

family  home  life.  More  striking  yet  was  the  growth  of  the  mothers' 
allowance  work.  In  1915  the  State  of  New  York  passed  its  so-called 
board  of  child  welfare  act,  providing  in  all  the  counties  of  the  State 
and  in  the  city  of  New  York  for  unsalaried  boards  which  should 
have  in  charge  the  administering  of  allowances  to  widowed  mothers. 
The  Westchester  County  board  was  appointee!  as  provided  by  law, 
the  superintendent  of  the  poor  being  an  ex  officio  member.  As  his 
office  had  already  been  granting  allowances  to  needy  mothers,  and  as 
various  cases  were  being  covered  by  his  funds  which  did  not  fall 
within  the  rather  narrow  limits  of  the  act,  the  new  county  board  of 
child  welfare  and  the  county  superintendent  of  the  poor  agreed  to 
work  as  one  in  this  field.  The  director  of  the  child  welfare  depart- 
ment was  made  the  unsalaried  executive  of  this  board,  and  it  was 
purposed  to  use  the  staff  of  the  department  of  child  welfare  for  the 
widows'  allowance  work  under  the  new  act.  However,  the  county 
board  of  supervisors  did  not  feel  the  need  for  a  new  piece  of  ma- 
chinery of  a  different  type  to  carry  on  the  work  already  being  con- 
ducted to  their  satisfaction  by  the  county  superintendent  of  the  poor. 
As  the  act  did  not  make  appropriations  mandatory,  they  determined 
to  make  no  appropriation  to  the  board  of  child  welfare,  but  instead 
to  increase  the  funds  in  the  control  of  the  superintendent  of  the  poor 
in  order  that  he  might  do  all  the  work  contemplated  for  the  board 
under  the  act.  No  appropriation,  therefore,  was  made  to  the  county 
board  of  child  welfare ;  it  has  never  become  active,  and  the  mothers' 
allowance  work  in  Westchester  County  has  never  been  carried  on 
under  the  state-wide  plan. 

The  publicity  given  to  "  widows'  pension  "  work  by  the  passage 
of  the  act  and  by  the  attempt  to  apply  it  in  Westchester  greatly  ad- 
vertised the  giving  of  allowances,  and  the  department  of  child  wel- 
fare found  itself  flooded  by  applications  for  this  form  of  relief,  its 
list  at  times  numbering  200.  This  brought  considerable  pressure 
for  immediate  aid  for  families,  and  criticism  of  the  slower  and  more 
painstaking  methods.  The  department  stood  firmly,  however,  for 
thorough  investigation  before  allowances  were  granted,  and  refused 
to  lower  its  standards.  Nevertheless,  with  increased  funds,  its 
mothers'  allowance  work  increased  in  one  year  to  over  five  times 
the  amount  of  the  year  before. 

THE  CREATION  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT   OF   CHILD  WELFARE. 

The  passage  of  the  "  commissionership  act." 6 

The  most  important  single  stepping-stone  in  the  development  of 
the  public  child-caring  agency  in  Westchester  was  the  passage  of  the 
so-called  commissionership  bill  in  1916.  This  act  was  a  piece  of  spe- 
cial legislation  for  Westchester  County.    It  was  an  outgrowth  of  the 

6  New  York  Laws  1916,  ch.  242. 


WESTCHESTER  COUNTY.  123 

many  difficulties  met  by  the  county  superintendent  of  the  poor  in 
trying  to  carry  on  his  work  and  of  the  fact  that  a  county  so  large  as 
Westchester,  with  its  complicated  problems,  had  needs  not  provided 
for  by  the  regular  New  York  State  laws.  The  commissionership  act. 
with  a  few  amendments  since  passed,  is  still  in  force  in  Westchester 
County  and  is  the  law  under  which  the  child-caring  work  is  carried 
on.  Attention,  therefore,  must  be  given  to  the  theory  upon  which  it 
is  based  and  to  its  provisions. 

The  theory  of  the  act  is  that,  in  order  to  secure  a  competent  person 
for  the  work  of  caring  for  the  dependent  and  delinquent  classes  in  an 
area  as  small  as  a  county,  the  office  must  be  made  an  important  one. 
For  this  reason  the  act  abolished  the  old  office  of  superintendent  of 
the  poor  and  created  in  its  place  a  new  office,  that  of  county  commis- 
sioner of  charities  and  corrections,  later  called  county  commissioner 
of  public  welfare.  This  official  has  all  the  powers  of  the  superintend- 
ent of  the  poor  under  the  New  York  State  law,  and  many  others  in 
addition.  He  is  an  elected  official,  his  term  of  office  being  three  years. 
As  was  intended  by  the  framers  of  the  bill,  he  is  one  of  the  higher- 
salaried  officers  of  the  county.  To  aid  the  commissioner  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  numerous  duties  the  law  provided  for  a  deputy  commis- 
sioner to  be  appointed  by  the  commissioner  and  to  act  as  directed  by 
him.  It  created  six  county  departments,  all  directly  responsible  to 
the  commissioner  and  with  heads  appointed  by  him.  Thus  power  and 
responsibility  for  the  conduct  of  the  public-welfare  work  of  the 
county  are  definitely  centered  in  the  one  elected  official.  The  six  de- 
partments are:  The  county  home  (or  almshouse)  department;  the  de- 
partment of  corrections,  which  includes  the  management  of  the  county 
penitentiary  and  workhouse;  the  department  of  hospitals  and  health. 
which  includes  the  management  of  the  general  and  tuberculosis  hos- 
pitals; the  farm  department,  which  furnishes  food  supplies  for  the 
institutions  and  labor  for  the  penitentiary  inmates;  the  steward's 
department,  which  is  the  purchasing  agency  for  the  entire  organi- 
zation; and  the  department  of  child  welfare.  The  framers  of  the 
bill  intended  that  the  heads  of  these  six  departments  should  be  ex- 
perts in  their  particular  lines  and  should  furnish  to  the  commis- 
sioner— who  is  the  general  administrative  officer — the  specialized 
knowledge  he  needs.  The  powers  of  the  commissioner  are  very  gen- 
eral and  are  broadly  defined.  By  this  act  the  department  of  child 
welfare  came  into  being  as  an  official  branch  of  the  county  service,  the 
first  county  department  of  this  nature  to  be  established  in  the  State. 

Sections  relating-  to  children. 

Under  the  law  as  it  stands  to-day  the  powers  of  the  commissioner 
with  regard  to  child  care  are  liberal,  as  liberal  probably  as  they  can 
be  made  so  long  as  the  county  operates  under  the  city  and  town  sys- 


124  COUNTY    ORGANIZATION  FOR  CHILD   CARE. 

tern  of  charging  for  the  poor.    The  following  are  the  specific  pro- 
visions for  child  and  family  relief: 

The  commissioner  may  also  appoint  an  advisory  board  of  not  more  than 
seven  members  to  assist  in  the  management  of  the  department  of  child  welfare. 
The  members  of  such  advisory  hoard  shall  also  serve  without  pay  and  during 
the  pleasure  of  the  commissioner.7 

Commitments  to  institutions  by  overseers  of  the  poor  or  by  commissioners  of 
charities  of  any  city  in  Westchester  County  shall  hereafter  he  limited  to  com- 
mitments to  almshouses,  and  all  such  commitments  shall  be  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  commissioner  of  charities  and  corrections,  who  shall  commit  to 
such  institutions  as  to  him  may  seem  proper,  subject  to  the  general  require- 
ments for  the  commitment  of  children  as  now  provided  by  law.8 

The  commissioner  shall  have  the  power  to  make  such  arrangements  for  the 
care  of  needy  children  as  may  be  authorized  by  the  board  of  supervisors,  but 
no  child  chargeable  to  any  town  or  city  in  the  county  of  Westchester  shall  be 
committed  to  any  institution  or  placed  in  any  home,  nor  shall  any  expense  be 
incurred  in  behalf  of  the  care  of  said  child  withoat  first  having  obtained  the 
approval  of  the  supervisor,  or  overseer  of  the  poor,  of  the  town,  or  of  the  com- 
missioner of  charities,  or  deputy  or  other  deputized  official  of  the  city  charge- 
able therewith,  as  the  case  may  be.  The  commissioner  shall  perform,  under 
such  rules  and  regulations  as  the  board  of  supervisors  may  adopt,  all  the  duties 
prescribed  for  local  boards  of  child  welfare  as  provided  by  the  provisions  of 
the  general  municipal  law  or  any  other  law,  in  so  far  as  the  same  shall  apply 
to  the  county  of  Westchester.6 

To  anyone  unfamiliar  with  New  York  State  law  these  sections  do 
not  seem  as  significant  as  they  really  are.  Under  the  State  poor  law 
children  between  the  ages  of  2  and  16  may  not  be  committed,  to  alms- 
houses, and  children  under  2  may  be  committed  there  only  when 
accompanied  by  their  own  mothers.  Therefore  the  restricting  of 
overseers  and  commissioners  of  charities  to  commitments  to  alms- 
houses deprives  these  officials  of  any  power  to  place  children  in  in- 
stitutions and  centers  the  commitment  of  all  children  for  destitu- 
tion in  the  county  commissioner  of  public  welfare.  This  official  is 
given  practically  unlimited  power  to  care  for  needy  children,  with 
the  one  important  restriction  that  no  expense  may  be  incurred  for  any 
child  chargeable  to  any  subdivision  of  the  county  unless  the  consent 
of  the  proper  local  official  has  first  been  secured.  This  restriction 
is  made  necessary  by  the  fact  that  the  county  still  follows  the  system 
of  charging  back  the  care  of  its  poor  upon  the  localities  in  which 
they  have  legal  settlement,  and  because  it  is  unconstitutional  for  a 
county  official  to  fix  a  charge  upon  a  subdivision  of  the  county. 
Finally,  to  the  commissioner  are  given  all  the  duties  of  a  board  of 
child  welfare  empowered  to  administer  allowances  to  widowed  moth- 

7  New  York  Laws  1916,  ch.  242,  sec.  3,  as  amended  by  Laws  1921,  ch.  457,  sec.  3.  This 
is  a  recent  amendment  and  has  not  yet  been  put  in  operation. 

8  Ibid.,  sec.  5. 

8  Ibid.,  see.  6,  as  amended  by  Laws  1921,  ch.  458,  sec.  6. 


WESTCHESTER   COUNTY.  125 

ers,  and  this  provision  nullifies  the  effect  of  the  board  of  child  welfare 
act,  so  far  as  it  applied  to  Westchester  County. 

Powers,  duties,  and  methods  of  work  of  county  department  of 
child  welfare. 

The  powers  and  duties  of  the  newly  created  county  department  of 
child  welfare  can  best  be  described  by  a  statement  of  its  methods 
of  work  under  the  act  in  the  various  types  of  cases  handled.  In  gen- 
eral, however,  it  may  be  said  that  the  immediate  effects  of  the  act 
were  official  recognition  on  the  part  of  the  county  of  its  child-welfare 
work,  the  establishing  of  a  child-caring  and  family-relief  agency  as 
a  part  of  the  county's  necessary  business,  and  the  centralizing  of  the 
commitment  of  destitute  children  in  one  county  official.  The  prac- 
tical result  of  the  act  was  to  increase  at  once,  and  very  materially, 
the  work  of  the  department — first,  by  advertising  it  among  officials 
and  private  citizens;  second,  by  placing  upon  it  the  duties  of  in- 
vestigating the  cases  of  all  destitute  children  before  their  commit- 
ment and  of  arranging  for  their  commitment.  Thanks  to  the  co- 
operation of  local  poor-law  officials  and  of  members  of  the  county 
board  of  supervisors,  the  restrictive  provisions  governing  commit- 
ment have  not  operated  as  disastrously  as  it  was  at  first  feared  they 
might,  and  the  passage  of  the  bill  immediately  improved  greatly  the 
handling  of  children  in  need  of  care  because  of  destitution  and 
kindred  conditions. 

The  staff  of  the  department  to-day  numbers  40  and  consists  of  a 
director,  3  assistant  directors,  a  supervisor  of  district  work,  a  super- 
visor of  boarding  homes,  an  office  secretary,  16  district  and  field 
agents,  6  stenographers,  a  bookkeeper,  a  filing  clerk,  a  secretary  to 
the  director,  and  a  clinic  staff  comprised  of  a  psychiatrist,  5  psy- 
chiatric social  workers,  and  2  stenographers.  It  has  11  offices — a 
central  executive  office  in  the  courthouse  at  White  Plains,  a  separate 
office  for  its  clinic  immediately  adjoining  the  courthouse,  and  9 
offices  at  the  larger  centers  of  population  in  its  eight  case-work  dis- 
tricts. The  office  in  the  city  of  Yonkers  has  a  staff  of  1  agents  and  a 
stenographer,  three  districts  have  2  agents  each,  and  each  of  the 
remaining  districts  has  1  agent  in  charge.  Yonkers  is  the  only 
district  office  with  a  stenographer;  the  others  are  given  as  much 
stenographic  sendee  as  possible  from  the  central  office — an  arrange- 
ment which  is  far  from  satisfactory.  As  noted  before,  private  funds 
give  much  assistance,  and  by  no  means  all  the  staff  of  the  department 
is  furnished  from  public  funds.  Since  1914  the  county  has  increased 
its  paid  staff  from  2  to  17 — an  admirable  increase.  The  director.  1 
assistant  director,  the  secretary  to  the  director,  the  bookkeeper,  11 
field  agents,  and  2  stenographers  are  now  supported  at  public  ex- 


126  COUNTY  ORGANIZATION    FOB   CHILD    ('ARE. 

pcnse.  All  these  positions  except  that  of  the  director  are  in  the  com- 
pel it  i(ve  civil  service.  The  2-')  other  members  of  the  staff  are  fur- 
nished through  private  funds.  The  Westchester  County  Children's 
Association — the  private  organization  which  has  grown  out  of  the 
former  Westchester  County  Children's  Committee — pays  the  salary 
and  expenses  of  six.  The  remaining  members  of  the  staff  are  fur- 
nished by  private  individuals,  the  entire  clinic  work  being  a  gift  to 
the  department  from  one  person.  Private  funds  granted  to  the 
department  for  salaries  are  given  merely  by  agreement  to  pay  the 
salary — of  a  specified  amount — and  the  expenses  of  any  individual 
chosen  and  designated  by  the  department.  The  department  makes 
the  selection  and  has  the  sole  control  of  the  workers,  whose  only  con- 
nection with  the  children's  association  and  private  donors  is  that 
they  receive  checks  from  those  sources.  Moreover,  the  department 
is  free  to  transfer  a  person  from  one  pay  roll  to  another  at  any  time 
without  notice.  In  thus  expending  private  funds  for  its  work,  the 
department  has  kept  definite  policies  in  mind  and  is  clearly  conscious 
of  certain  dangers  which  should  be  avoided. 

Westchester  County  needed  an  efficient  child-caring  agency,  and 
it  has  seemed  proper  that  private  philanthropy  and  public  charity 
should  create  one  well-equipped,  unified  organization  rather  than 
several  scattered  ones.  Because  of  the  greater  flexibility  of  private 
philanthropy,  it  can  increase  the  efficiency  of  public  mone}rs  and 
render  supplementary  assistance  out  of  all  proportion  to  their  amount 
of  expenditure.  Also,  the  department  believes  that  it  is  absolutely 
essential  to  high  standards  of  public  work  that  the  continued  inter- 
est in  it  of  large  numbers  of  citizens  be  maintained,  and  that  this 
interest  can  be  more  easily  aroused  and  held  when  private  citizens 
have  a  very  direct  and  concrete  part  in  the  public  work.  For  this 
reason,  from  the  beginning  of  the  present  administration  every 
effort  has  been  made  to  encourage  this  participation  of  private  citi- 
zens in  the  development  of  the  public  department.  The  effect  is 
clearly  evident  in  the  penitentiary,  hospital,  and  county  home  (the 
three  institutional  divisions  of  the  commissioner's  work) ,  but  it  is 
possibly  most  marked  in  the  relations  of  the  department  of  child 
welfare  to  the  Westchester  County  Children's  Association.  Much  of 
the  rapid  growth  of  the  department  has  been  due  to  the  fact  that  a 
large  number  of  the  county's  most  philanthropically  minded  citizens 
have  been  watching  its  work,  and  have  discerned  needs  that  ought  to 
be  met,  aroused  public  opinion  regarding  them,  and  often  raised 
funds  to  meet  the  needs.  Most  of  the  positions  provided  by  the 
Westchester  County  Children's  Association  have  been  contributed 
becaus'e  of  the  desire  of  some  of  its  members  to  have  the  department 
extend  its  work  in  some  particular  field.    As  an  offset  to  these  advan- 


WESTCHESTER   COUXTY.  127 

tages  the  department  faces  squarely  the  danger  that  the  private  funds 
may  at  some  time  influence  its  management.  It  believes  that  the 
danger  has  thus  far  been  avoided  by  the  plan  of  permitting  no  per- 
sonal contact  whatever  of  the  association  or  individual  giving  funds 
with  the  direct  use  made  of  the  funds.  It  is  also  the  purpose  of  the 
department  to  secure  the  transfer  of  positions  from  the  private  to  the 
public  pay  roll  as  rapidly  as  the  positions  justify  their  existence  and 
the  taxpayers  can  be  brought  to  understand  the  need  for  them. 

Administrative  policies. 

In  its  general  administrative  policies  the  department  aims  to  be 
trury  democratic  and  to  have  its  management  one  of  the  entire  group 
rather  than  of  an  individual  or  individuals.  In  general,  the  executive 
staff  has  the  supervision  and  management  of  the  department.  It  is 
the  policy  to  allow  every  member  of  the  staff  as  much  freedom  as  is 
compatible  with  reasonably  efficient  team  play,  and  the  district  agents 
are  left  to  organize,  plan,  and  develop  the  work  in  their  own  districts 
according  to  their  own  best  judgment.  No  attempt  is  made  to  control 
absolutely  their  method  of  work  or  distribution  of  time  unless  they 
fall  markedly  below  departmental  standards.  An  effort  is  made  to 
familiarize  new  workers  coming  on  the  staff  with  the  department's 
general  policies  and  methods  by  giving  them  a  course  of  training 
under  the  central  office  staff.  Except  in  unusual  instances  new  workers 
are  attached  first  to  the  central  office  as  agents  at  large  and  are  given 
a  field  training  of  from  three  to  six  months  in  the  actual  handling  of 
all  the  various  kinds  of  case  work  done  by  the  department.  In  addi- 
tion, the  new  worker  has  a  series  of  discussions  with  the  director 
covering  all  phases  of  the  department's  work,  the  various  brandies 
of  county  government,  the  relation  of  the  department  to  different 
public  officials  and  agencies  and  to  other  county  organizations  and 
outside  social  agencies,  and  kindred  subjects.  These  discussions  eover 
two-hour  periods,  and  are  given  once  a  week,  so  far  as  possible,  over  a 
number  of  months.  The  department  thus  aims  to  equip  its  workers 
for  the  independence  of  district  work  and  then  leaves  them  practically 
free  to  use  their  own  initiative  and  to  contribute  the  best  that  is  in 
them  in  their  own  way. 

The  department  has  a  system  of  conferences  which  aim  to  secure 
the  opinions  of  the  whole  group  upon  different  subjects.  The  entire 
staff  meets  regularly  once  a  month  in  all-day  conference.  Hero  prac- 
tically all  the  policies  of  the  department  and  its  methods  of  work  of 
any  importance  are  determined  after  discussion  by  a  majority  vote. 
In  the  past  these  conferences  have  often  done  much  of  their  work 
through  subcommittees,  which  have  brought  in  reports  for  group 
action.  Recently  a  representative  committee  o\'  the  staff  has  con- 
sidered the  entire  subject  of  staff  control  of  the  department,  and  its^. 


128  ( OUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOR    CHILD    (ARK. 

report  to  the  staff  conference  has  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  a 
permanent  committee  on  staff  conference,  with  full  power  to  deter- 
mine the  subject  matter  for  discussion  by  the  conference,  independent 
of  any  executive  control.  This  committee,  therefore,  now  has  full 
power  to  place  any  matter  it  wishes  before  the  conference  for  action. 
In  case  of  disagreement  at  any  time  between  the  executive  and  the 
staff,  appeal  is  open  to  the  commissioner  himself.  The  members  of  the 
executive  staff  meet  three  or  four  times  a  month,  or  as  often  as  is 
necessary,  for  the  discussion  of  matters  of  immediate  concern  or  of 
a  nature  not  fitted  for  discussion  in  the  larger  group.  The  weekly 
clinic  conference,  which  is  described  later,  forms  a  means  for  intensive 
"group  discussion  of  a  number  of  cases.  A  central  office  conference  of 
the  entire  executive  and  stenographic  staff  is  in  process  of  organiza- 
tion, and  will  be  under  way  in  the  near  future. 

THE  WORK  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  TO-DAY. 

The  primary  work  of  the  department  may  be  roughly  classified  as 
the  supervision  and  care  of  all  children  supported  in  whole  or  in  part 
by  public  funds  away  from  their  families  and  the  administration  of 
the  county  mothers'  allowance  system.  However,  as  its  aim  is  pre- 
ventive as  well  as  remedial  work  there  is  practically  no  kind  of  social 
problem  that  does  not  fall  within  its  field.  In  all  its  case  work  its 
object  is  to  preserve  family  home  life  wherever  possible,  and  it  always 
considers  the  family  as  the  unit  even  when  its  members  are  widely 
scattered.  Where  family  home  life  can  not  be  preserved  and  the 
family  must  be  broken  up  it  stands  for  the  shortest  possible  separation 
of  parents  and  children,  for  the  responsibility  of  the  parent  for  his 
child's  support  at  all  times  whether  or  not  he  is  able  to  have  the 
child  with  him,  for  the  return  of  children  to  relatives  at  the  earliest 
moment  consistent  with  the  children's  welfare,  for  boarding-home 
care  whenever  possible  for  children  who  must  be  removed  from  their 
own  homes  and  are  not  suitable  for  free  foster  homes,  for  cottage-plan 
institutional  care  as  against  congregate,  and  for  free  foster-home  care 
for  such  physically  and  mentally  normal  children  as  have  no  family 
or  friends  to  whom  they  can  ever  return.  In  all  aspects  of  the  work 
the  department  of  child  welfare  aims  to  study  most  carefully  the 
personality  of  each  individual  child  and  to  provide  for  him  upon  this 
basis.    These  general  principles  govern  its  case  work. 

Mothers'  allowances. 

Children  are  always  kept  with  their  own  mothers  provided  these 
mothers  are  capable,  with  assistance,  of  giving  them  adequate  care; 
hence  the  mothers'  allowance  work  is  perhaps  the  most  important 
phase  of  the  department's  activities.  As  has  been  previously  men- 
tioned, Westchester  is  granting  allowances  not  under  the  general 


WESTCHESTER   COUNTY.  129 

State  law  but  under  the  special  provisions  of  the  "  commissionership 
act "  and  resolutions  of  the  county  board  of  supervisors.  The  origi- 
nal ""board  of  child  welfare  act"  permitted  the  granting  of  allow- 
ances only  to  widowed  mothers  who  fulfilled  certain  residence  re- 
quirements, and  whose  husbands  had  been  citizens ;  it  has  since  been 
amended  but  still  covers  limited  classes  only.  The  Westchester  sys- 
tem permits  the  granting  of  an  allowance,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
commissioner,  to  any  needy  mother  with  young  children  who  is 
deprived  of  the  earnings  of  the  breadwinner,  whether  by  death, 
imprisonment,  mental  or  physical  illness,  or  long-time  or  permanent 
disability.  Moreover,  the  former  law  does  not  coincide  with  the 
poor  law  in  regard  to  settlement  requirements  but  makes  it  neces- 
sary for  a  woman  to  have  lived  two  years  in  a  county  before  she 
may  receive  an  allowance.  This  means  that  a  family  may  have 
proper  poor-law  settlement  in  a  county  and  be  legally  entitled  to 
county  poor  relief,  yet  may  not  be  eligible  for  relief  in  the  form 
of  a  mother's  allowance.  Westchester  County  determines  the  grant- 
ing of  mothers'  allowances  on  the  same  basis  of  settlement  as  the 
granting  of  other  forms  of  relief.  Its  system  allows  considerably 
more  freedom  in  the  treatment  of  individual  families  than  is  per- 
mitted under  the  state-wide  law.  It  has  the  added  advantage  of 
combining  in  one  agency  the  care  of  needy  children  with  their  own 
mothers  and  those  away  from  their  mothers.  Children  are  often 
transferred  from  the  technical  class  of  mothers'  allowance  cases  to 
that  of  dependent  children  and  back  again,  sometimes  repeatedly, 
according  to  family  vicissitudes,  without  any  knowledge  on  the  part 
of  the  families  that  their  status  before  the  law  is  changing  and  that 
aid  is  coming  from  different  funds.  Moreover,  since  it  is  the  policy 
to  have  the  same  worker  handle  the  family  from  its  first  contact  with 
the  department,  the  family  is  saved  the  many  new  adjustments  which 
the  other  system  requires,  and  there  is  no  chance  of  failure  to  give 
adequate  care  because  of  lack  of  cooperation  between  different 
agencies.  In  the  state-wide  system,  the  decisions  on  the  granting 
of  mothers'  allowances  are  made  by  an  unpaid  board.  In  West- 
chester County  the  power  and  responsibility  rest  with  the  commis- 
sioner's department,  which,  however,  is  required  to  secure  the  con- 
sent of  the  proper  local  ofiieial  if  an  allowance  is  to  be  granted. 

Although  the  department  of  child  welfare  has  by  law  the  greatest 
freedom  in  the  granting  of  allowances,  it  has  established  for  itself 
general  principles  which  it  uses  as  guides  in  making  decisions  upon 
cases.  These  have  been  approved  by  a  committee  of  the  county  board 
of  supervisors  and  by  an  advisory  committee  of  the  Westchester 
County  Children's  Association.  On  the  whole,  they  follow  closely 
the  general  standards  of  agencies  doing  similar  work,  though  they 
have  been  adapted  with  the  special  need  of  public  agencies  in  mind. 


130  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHTLD   CARE. 

The  growth  of  the  mothers'  allowance  work  in  Westchester  has 
been  exceedingly  rapid.  In  1015,  the  year  in  which  it  was  started,  14 
families,  with  58  children  under  16  years  of  age,  were  the  recipients 
of  this  new  form  of  relief.  In  1920,  mothers'  allowances  were 
granted  to  a  total  of  334  families,  with  1,132  children  under  the  age 
of  16  and  living  at  home,  and  the  relief  administered  amounted  to 
$123,871.21.  On  December  31,  1920,  allowances  were  being  received 
in  the.  county  by  278  families,  with  942  children.  The  increase  in  the 
county  budget  which  this  has  involved  has  not  escaped  the  notice  of 
the  taxpayer. 

The  initial  application  for  an  allowance  may  be  made  in  practically 
any  way,  but  before  an  investigation  of  her  case  is  made  each  mother 
must  fill  out  an  application  blank  furnished  by  the  department  and 
execute  an  affidavit  as  to  its  accuracy.  Each  case  is  investigated 
thoroughly,  and  a  complete  written  report,  including  recommenda- 
tions, is  submitted  to  the  central  office  for  review.  No  decision  is 
made  without  the  concurrence  of  at  least  three  persons  working  inde- 
pendently, and  whenever  disagreement  occurs  conferences  are  held 
upon  the  case.  If  it  is  decided  that  an  allowance  should  be  granted, 
the  signed  consent  of  the  local  supervisor  or  the  commissioner  of 
charities  is  required.  After  the  allowance  is  granted  comes  the  ques- 
tion of  the  amount  of  relief  to  be  given.  Here  the  department  uses 
a  budget  schedule,  which  is  revised  from  time  to  time  by  the  staff 
committee  on  budget  after  consideration  of  the  various  standard 
•budgets  in  use  by  leading  public  and  private  agencies.  The  present 
budget  schedule  is  a  composite  of  the  Chicago  Standard  Budget  and 
the  schedule  of  the  New  York  State  Charity  Organization  Society, 
with  some  ideas  of  the  department's  own. 

By  resolution  of  the  county  board  of  supervisors  the  department 
is  at  present  limited  to  an  allowance  not  to  exceed  $4.50  per  week 
per  child.  This  amount  has  proved  adequate  in  the  cases  of  large 
families,  but  is  often  inadequate  with  smaller  ones.  Since  it  is  the 
department's  policy  to  assure  each  of  its  wards  an  adequate  income, 
effort  is  made  to  raise  private  funds  where  public  fail  to  meet  the 
needs.  The  amount  of  allowance  to  each  family  is  determined  in 
the  usual  way  by  a  study  of  its  estimated  monthly  income  in  rela- 
tion to  the  budget  estimate  of  what  it  should  have  to  maintain  a 
reasonable  standard  of  living.  The  amount  is  granted  for  no  fixed 
period  and  is  changed  as  often  as  is  advisable — monthly  if  necessary. 
Allowances  are  given  in  the  form  of  monthly  drafts.  These  are  de- 
livered to  the  department  by  the  county  comptroller's  office  and  are 
taken  personally  by  the  agents  to  the  mothers  in  their  own  homes. 

Supervision  of  families  is  on  the  whole  a  very  regular  and  friendly 
matter,  agents  visiting  those  in  their  care  at  least  once  a  month,  and 
in  the  more  difficult  cases  much  oftener.     The  health  of  the  mothers 


WESTCHESTER   COUNTY.  131 

and  children  is  a  matter  of  concern.  The  school  records  of  the 
children  are  watched;  a  school  report  blank  is  used  in  some  cases, 
but  it  is  not  required.  Through  the  aid  of  private  individuals  and 
organizations — notably  the  Westchester  County  Children's  Associa- 
tion— scholarships  are  raised  to  continue  older  children  in  school, 
and  vacations,  memberships  in  the  Boy  and  Girl  Scouts  of  America, 
and  other  recreation  facilities  are  provided  for.  At  present,  with 
the  cooperation  of  75  families,  a  simple  study  is  being  made — covering 
a  period  of  six  months — of  their  actual  in  relation  to  their  estimated 
expenditures.  The  department  considers  that  the  money  furnished 
is  the  smallest  part  of  the  service  rendered  to  its  families,  and  it  aims 
in  every  way  to  aid  them  to  make  the  most  of  their  opportunities. 

The  child  under  care  away  from  his  mother. 

Not  all  children,  however,  are  so  fortunate  as  to  find  care  with 
their  own  mothers.  The  year  1920  saw  1,212  children  in  Westchester 
County  receiving  care  at  public  expense  away  from  their  own  fami- 
lies. Of  these,  365  were  children  newly  committed  during  the  year. 
Since  the  department  of  child  welfare  now  has  the  sole  power  to 
commit  a  child  for  destitution,  it  has  opportunity  to  make  a  thorough 
investigation  before  commitment.  This  is  done  with  the  utmost 
care,  and  full  record  is  made  of  each  case,  so  that  children  are  no 
longer  separated  from  parents  and  relatives  and  committed  to  public 
support  without  assurance  to  the  public  that  this  radical  action  is 
necessary.  Of  the  365  children  committed  in  Westchester  during 
1920,  230,  or  slightly  less  than  two-thirds,  were  poor-law  commit- 
ments, and  they  therefore  received  adequate  attention  before  separa- 
tion from  their  families  wTas  decided  upon.  In  each  case,  if  the  child 
was  properly  a  city  or  town  charge,  the  consent  of  the  local  official 
was  necessary  before  the  child's  commitment  could  be  secured. 
While  consent  is  practically  always  obtained  without  difficulty,  and 
the  actual  power  of  commitment  rests  solely  with  the  county  com- 
missioner, the  necessity  for  obtaining  the  local  official's  sanction 
often  holds  up  the  progress  of  the  case.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this 
difficulty  will  eventually  be  solved  by  making  all  dependent  children 
county  charges.  This  step  could  easily  be  taken,  if  it  were  not  for  the 
slight  changes  in  the  tax  rates  as  between  cities  and  rural  districts 
which  such  an  arrangement  would  involve. 

The  department  still  has  practically  no  control  over  children's  Ci 
brought  before  the  courts,  and  although  it  is  sometimes  consulted 
and  given  an  opportunity  to  investigate  and  make  recommendations 
prior  to  the  commitment  of  a  child  for  "no  proper  guardianship" 
or  for  juvenile  delinquency,  in  a  majority  of  the  rases  children  art- 
committed  to  institutions  by  courts  without  any  adequate  inquiry 
into  their  circumstances.     Only  an  adequate  county  juvenile  court 


132  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

system,  whereby  all  children's  cases  are  handled  by  a  trained  and 
competent  judge,  will  remedy  this  situation.1"  As  has  been  pre- 
viously stated,  the  department  pays  from  its  funds  for  all  children 
committed  by  the  courts;  but  it  has  no  control  whatever  over  juvenile 
delinquency  commitments,  and  only  such  control  over  commitments 
for  "no  proper  guardianship"  as  is  given  by  the  right  to  disapprove 
them  and  to  refuse  payment  of  bills  for  them.  In  spite  of  these  diffi- 
culties, the  department,  so  far  as  is  possible,  treats  all  new  com- 
mitments in  the  same  way.  In  all  poor-law  commitments  a  thorough 
investigation  of  each  case  is  made  before  the  child  is  actually  sepa- 
rated from  his  family.  In  court  commitments  such  an  investigation 
is  made  following  the  commitment  if  it  can  not  be  made  before.  In 
every  case,  court  and  poor  law  alike,  and  whether  or  not  the  depart- 
ment has  any  form  of  guardianship  over  the  child,  a  thorough  physi- 
cal and  mental  examination  through  the  department's  clinic  is  given 
each  child  as  soon  as  possible  after  he  becomes  a  public  charge,  and 
recommendations  are  made  to  the  proper  agency.  Thus,  in  spite 
of  the  difficulties  of  the  system,  the  department  is  attempting  to  give 
the  children  committed  by  the  court  the  same  opportunities  that  it 
is  able  to  furnish  to  the  children  who  are  directly  within  its  control. 
But  at  best,  and  even  with  all  forces  working  together,  the  system 
is  very  inefficient;  children  committed  by  courts,  like  those  who  come 
under  the  control  of  the  department,  should  have  the  advantage  of 
careful  study  and  examination  before  action  is  taken  upon  their 
cases. 

Reinvestigation  of  children's  cases. 

Once  a  child  has  become  a  public  charge,  the  rules  of  the  State 
board  of  charities  and  corrections  require  that  an  annual  reinvesti- 
gation be  made  into  his  family  circumstances.  The  department 
endeavors  to  make  this  reinvestigation  something  more  than  a  per- 
functory procedure  to  determine  whether  or  not  bills  for  his  care 
should  still  be  paid.  It  strives  to  review  thoroughly  the  child's  case, 
in  order  to  determine  whether  the  plan  made  for  him  is  the  best  pos- 
sible one,  and  whether  it  is  working  as  was  intended.  More  emphasis 
is  placed  upon  the  thoroughness  of  the  reinvestigation  than  upon  its 
frequency.  As  already  indicated,  the  department  considers  that  it 
is  by  no  means  helpful  for  children  to  remain  public  charges  for  any 
length  of  time  in  a  county  no  better  equipped  to  meet  their  needs  than 
is  Westchester.  Many  of  its  children,  however,  receive  care  during 
their  period  of  dependency  in  large  congregate  institutions,  where 
despite  the  efforts  of  the   institution,  specialization  is  practically 

10  Since-  tins  was  written  the  1922  session  of  toe  New  York  Legislature  has  passed  an 
act  establishing  a  children's  court  in  each  county  of  the  State — with  certain  exceptions 
to  cover  counties  in  which  juvenile  court  work  had  already  been  organized — and  giving 
such  courts  original,  exclusive  jurisdiction  over  children's  cases. 


WESTCHESTER   COUNTY.  133 

impossible  and  little  individual  education  and  training  can  be  given 
to  them.  In  1020,  of  nearly  44,000  weeks  of  care  at  public  expense 
given  to  children  away  from  their  families,  only  14  per  cent  was 
furnished  in  family  boarding  homes.  12  per  cent  in  cottage-plan 
institutions,  and  4  per  cent  in  hospitals  and  institutions  for  defec- 
tives, as  against  TO  per  cent  in  large  congregate  institutions,  several 
of  which  had  over  1,000  children  under  care. 
Boarding  children  in  private  families. 

The  department's  boarding-out  system  has  developed  very  slowly. 
From  its  beginning  in  1915  it  has  increased  only  to  the  point  where 
boarding-home  care  is  being  furnished  to  about  125  children  at  a 
time.  Even  in  1920  the  number  of  children  under  such  care  at  times 
dropped  as  low  as  75.  This  part  of  the  work  has  not  grown,  primarily 
because  the  department  has  been  unable  to  give  to  it  the  undivided  at- 
tention of  a  sufficient  number  of  its  staff,  this  being  partly  due  to  the 
pressure,  for  years,  of  the  mothers'  allowance  work.  When  through 
public  or  private  funds  enough  trained  workers  can  be  set  at  the 
task,  the  boarding-home  work  will  undoubtedly  increase  rapidly, 
though  it  is  probably  more  difficult  to  carr}^  on  this  work  in  West- 
chester County  than  in  some  other  parts  of  the  State. 

Since  the  department  can  not  board  all  its  children,  it  aims  in  gen- 
eral to  give  preference  to  babies  under  2  years  of  age,  children  in 
need  of  special  attention  because  of  their  physical  or  mental  condi- 
tion, children  whom  the  clinic  wishes  to  keep  under  observation, 
children  that  have  been  for  a  long  time  in  institutions,  children  in 
preparation  for  placement  in  free  foster  homes,  and  children  who 
should  be  kept  near  their  relatives,  especially  widowed  fathers.  Since 
January  1,  1921,  special  effort  has  also  been  made  to  place  in  boarding 
homes  all  children  newly  committed,  until  such  time  as  the  clinic  has 
completed  its  work  upon  their  cases,  and  a  careful  plan  for  their 
future  has  been  made. 

The  State  department  of  health  requires  that  all  family  homes  in 
which  children  are  boarded  shall  be  licensed  each  year  by  the  local 
board  of  health,  and  such  homes  are  subject  to  monthly  inspection  by 
the  local  health  officer.  The  prescribed  license  requires  that  each 
child  shall  sleep  in  a  room  Inning  one  or  more  window-  opening  into 
the  outer  air,  that  ventilation  shall  be  adequate,  and  that  each  child 
shall  have  a  separate  bed.  In  addition  to  these  requirements,  the  de- 
partment of  child  welfare  has  formulated  a  number  of  standards  for 
its  boarding  homes  by  which  i(  aims  to  keep  this  branch  of  its  work  at 
a  high  level. 

Westchester  County  is  not  yet  sufficiently  convinced  of  the  value 
of  boarding-home  care  to  be  willing  to  pay  extra  amounts  to  secure 
it  for  its  children,  and  the  department's  boarding-home  work  is  made 


134  COUNTY   ORdAXIXATIOX    FOR   CHILD    CAKE. 

possible  only  through  the  use  of  private  funds.  It  uses  directly  for 
the  board  of  the  children  all  the  weekly  per  capita  amount  allowed  by 
the  county;  and  from  the  Westchester  County  Children's  Association 
and  other  private  sources  it  secures  clothing  and  funds  for  clothing 
and  for  the  payment  of  all  bills  for  the  medical,  dental,  and  other 
incidental  needs  of  the  children.  Private  funds  are  used  for  relief 
in  connection  with  the  boarding-home  work  more  than  in  any  other 
branch  of  the  department's  activities  except  the  clinic.  On  the  whole, 
the  main  difficulties  encountered  in  the  boarding-home  work — those 
of  home  finding,  of  adequate  supervision,  and  of  raising  funds  with 
which  to  finance  it — will  all,  the  department  believes,  be  solved  when 
the  staff  can  devote  sufficient  time  to  them.  Until  its  boarding-home 
system  is  enlarged,  Westchester  will  have  little  to  be  proud  of  in 
the  actual  type  of  care  furnished  its  dependents,  and  much  of  the 
clinic's  most  valuable  work  will  be  of  little  practical  avail. 

The  department  has  continued  its  early  policy  of  placing  children 
in  free  foster  homes  through  other  agencies  rather  than  through  its 
own  organization.  The  technique  of  placing  in  foster  homes  has 
been  highly  developed,  and  the  work  is  already  in  the  hands  of  ex- 
perts. It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  for  an  agency  placing  at  most 
only  about  30  children  a  year  more  expert  service  can  be  secured 
through  specialized  agencies  than  through  its  own  staff.  Moreover, 
with  the  possibility  of  changing  administrations  in  a  public  agency, 
the  department  feels  that  the  future  supervision  of  children  placed 
at  some  distance  from  the  county  is  better  safeguarded  in  the 
hands  of  an  incorporated  and  reasonably  permanent  organization. 
A  much  wider  choice  of  homes  is  secured  by  a  state-wide  organization 
than  by  one  operating  chiefly  within  the  limits  of  one  county,  and 
the  wider  the  choice  of  homes  the  better  may  the  individual  child's 
peculiarities  be  met.  In  the  cases  of  many  children,  especially  those 
who  have  been  taken  from  their  relatives  by  court  action  for  cruelty 
or  neglect,  placement  at  a  distance,  where  their  histories  are  not 
known  to  the  entire  community,  is  much  to  be  desired.  And,  finally, 
it  is  doubtful  whether  an  average  county  will  pay  the  expenses  and 
furnish  the  staff  for  careful  enough  supervision  of  children  placed 
far  outside  its  own  boundaries.  It  is  the  policy  of  the  department, 
however,  to  help  the  private  agencies  in  finding  as  many  free  homes 
as  possible,  whether  for  its  own  or  for  other  children;  and  it  does 
the  actual  placing  of  many  of  its  children,  keeping  them  under  its 
own  supervision,  in  such  cases  acting  rather  as  agent  for  the  private 
organization  than  as  its  own  representative.  Thus  far,  it  is  reason- 
ably well  satisfied  with  this  method.  More  of  Westchester  County's 
children  would  be  placed  out  in  free  foster  homes,  were  it  not  for 
the  difficulty  of  securing  the  good  Koraan  Catholic  homes  which  are 
needed  for  the  placement  of  most  of  its  wards. 


WESTCHESTER   COUNTY.  135 

The  clinic. 

The  clinic  has  been  from  its  creation  one  of  the  most  distinctive 
and  most  valuable  features  of  the  department's  work.  Both  in  its 
concrete  work  for  individual  wards  of  the  public  and  in  its  general 
educational  influence  upon  the  community  its  value  can  not  be  esti- 
mated. The  clinic  originated  in  the  effort  of  the  staff  of  the  depart- 
ment to  do  good  case  work  for  dependent  children  and  in  the  interesl 
of  the  county  commissioner  in  that  work.  From  the  beginning  of 
his  administration  he  had  been  troubled  by  the  fact  that  the  members 
of  the  children's  staff  usually  had  to  base  their  plans  for  the  care 
of  their  wards  on  guesswork.  Its  nearness  to  Xew  York  City  had 
made  available  to  Westchester  County  more  advantages  in  the  way 
of  free  clinics  than  were  available  to  more  remote  districts;  but  these 
clinics  were  so  overcrowded,  their  staffs  so  overburdened,  they  were 
so  difficult  to  reach,  and  so  much  time  was  wasted  in  using  them 
that  very  few  of  the  county's  wards  were  able  to  secure  the  ad- 
vantages seemingly  so  freely  offered.  If  the  department  was  to  do 
intelligent  work  with  its  children,  it  must  surely  know  a  great  deal 
about  them.  If  the  community  was  to  spend  its  money  in  treating 
dependent  children  it  should  know  what  they  ought  to  be  treated 
for  before  setting  about  the  work.  Therefore,  in  March,  1917, 
through  private  funds,  the  commissioner  established  a  clinic  for  the 
examination  of  wards  of  the  department  of  child  welfare,  with  a 
specially  trained  staff  consisting  of  a  psychiatrist  and  two  psychi- 
atric social  workers.  The  purpose  of  the  clinic  was  to  give  depend- 
ent children  complete  physical  and  mental  examinations  based  upon 
careful  investigation  of  their  personal  and  family  histories,  to  diag- 
nose their  cases,  and  to  recommend  treatment.  The  clinic  was  not 
to  treat  in  any  way,  but  was  to  furnish  the  basis  for  intelligent 
planning  of  care  and  directing  methods  of  treatment.  It  was  espe 
cially  fitted  to  study  the  problems  of  unadjusted  children. 

In  1917  the  department  dealt  with  1.211  children  away  from  their 
own  families,  and  with  an  additional  506  children  supported  in  their 
own  homes  with  their  own  mothers.  So  inspiring  was  the  oppor- 
tunity for  constructive  work  presented  and  so  great  was  the  enthu- 
siasm of  the  clinic's  staff,  that  at  first  too  much  was  attempted.  It 
was  planned  that  practically  every  child  becoming  dependent. 
whether  kept  with  his  own  mother  or  placed  away  from  her.  should 
be  given  a  complete  examination.  This  proved  impossible,  because 
of  the  number  of  children  involved  and  the  clinic's  standard  of 
thoroughness.  An  informal  system  of  selection  was  therefore  fol- 
lowed, and  the  more  pressing  cases  thought  for  one  reason  or  another 
to  present  the  biggest  problems  were  singled  out  for  attention. 
Examinations  based  upon  two  types  of   investigations   were  given. 


136  COUNTY    ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

So  far  as  possible,  the  two  specially  trained  clinic  investigators 
studied  and  supplemented  the  regular  field  agents'  investigations  of 

all  problem  cases,  making  exhaustive  psychiatric  studies.  Such 
studies  could  not  be  made  by  two  workers  rapidly  enough  to  furnish 
the  psychiatrist  all  the  work  she  could  do.  Other  examinations, 
therefore,  were  frequently  made  upon  thorough  social-service  investi- 
gations by  the  regular  field  agents.  In  order  to  bridge  the  difference 
in  point  of  view  between  agents  trained  for  social  service  in  schools 
or  in  fields  having  no  direct  contact  with  psychiatric  work  and  the 
specialized  viewpoint  of  the  clinic  workers,  it  was  arranged  to  send 
agents,  one  at  a  time,  from  the  field  staff  of  the  department  to  the 
clinic  for  three  months'  intensive  training  in  the  clinic's  methods.  It 
was  hoped  that  these  agents  would  bring  back  to  their  regular  work 
a  new  point  of  view,  which  would  not  only  be  helpful  in  the  indi- 
vidual cases  they  handled,  but  would  gradually  permeate  the  staff 
and  improve  its  entire  service.  After  a  time  it  became  perfectly 
obvious  that  the  original  undertaking  was  entirely  too  great.  The 
clinic  definitely  gave  up  attempting  to  examine  all  the  mothers' 
allowance  and  dependent  child  cases  and  devoted  itself  to  as  many 
as  possible  of  the  most  pressing  problem  cases  presented  by  the  de- 
partment. For  special  research  purposes  a  group  of  50  cases,  taken 
chronologically,  were  made  the  subject  of  particular  study. 

From  the  beginning  the  clinic  could  not  possibly  do  much  work 
for  the  general  public;  in  fact,  it  realized  that  to  do  so  would  retard 
the  development  of  the  public  mental  clinics,  which  were  so  badly 
needed.  But  the  pressure  from  schools,  courts,  private  citizens,  and 
private  agencies  became  acute,  and  in  its  desire  to  serve  the  clinic 
often  found  itself  going  far  afield  to  help  with  especially  difficult 
problems  of  maladjustment;  a  persistent  attempt  has  been  made, 
however,  to  limit  strictly  this  outside  work. 

The  clinic  remains  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  parts  of  the  de- 
partment's work.  Its  purpose,  as  formerly,  is  to  diagnose  only,  not 
to  treat,  and  the  limitation  of  its  work  to  wards  of  the  department 
has  been  found  even  more  necessary  than. at  first.  The  t}'pe  of  case 
examined  has  changed  materially  during  the  past  year.  A  review 
of  the  first  four  years'  work  has  made  the  department  realize  that, 
examining  only  such  children  as  were  thought  by  the  social-service 
agents  to  be  problem  cases,  it  has  passed  by  many  of  those  most  in 
need  of  skillful  treatment.  Moreover,  by  this  hit-or-miss  selection, 
no  facts  were  being  collected  which  were  of  any  permanent  value  ex- 
cept in  relation  to  individual  cases.  It  seemed  clear  to  the  depart- 
ment that  the  clinic's  efforts  should  be  expended  primarily  on  one 
type  of  work,  and  that  this  should  be  done  with  such  uniformity 
over  a  two-year  period  that  the  results  would  be  worthy  of  careful 
analysis  and  study. 


WESTCHESTER   COUNTY.  137 

As  the  child  in  need  of  public  support  away  from  his  family 
seemed  to  present  more  of  a  problem  of  social  maladjustment  than 
the  child  in  need  in  the  home  of  his  own  mother  who  was  still  aide 
to  take  physical  care  of  him,  it  was  determined  to  center  the  clinic's 
chief  interest  from  January  1.  1921,  upon  children  becoming  public 
charges  away  from  their  families,  whether  through  court  or  poor- 
law  commitment.  Since  that  date,  therefore,  a  complete  investiga- 
tion of  the  family  and  personal  history  of  every  child  becoming 
a  public  dependent  away  from  his  own  family,  regardless  of  the 
charge  upon  which  he  is  committed,  is  made  as  quickly  as  possible 
by  the  clinic  agents;  this  is  followed  by  a  complete  clinical  exami- 
nation of  the  child.  Whenever  possible,  this  entire  study  precedes 
his  commitment.  Wherever  boarding-home  space  permits,  the  de- 
partment aims  to  place  children  becoming  public  charges  in  board- 
ing homes  until  the  clinic  examination  has  been  completed,  a  confer- 
ence upon  the  case  held,  and  treatment  planned.  The  child  is  then 
transferred  to  whatever  form  of  available  care  seems  best  fitted 
to  his  needs.  In  many  instances,  because  of  scarcity  of  boarding- 
home  space  or  of  the  type  of  children  involved,  immediate  institu- 
tional commitment  has  been  necessary,  involving  great  difficulty  in 
arranging  for  subsequent  transfers.  The  department  hopes  within 
the  near  future  to  secure  sufficient  private  or  public  funds  to  make 
possible  the  building  up  of  a  system  of  subsidized  boarding  homes 
which  may  be  used  as  temporary  shelters  or  receiving  stations. 

Careful  records  are  being  made  of  all  work  done  on  new  commit- 
ments. In  order  to  make  possible  painstaking,  uniform  work  with 
all  cases,  and  the  maintenance  of  an  adequate  system  of  records  for 
both  present  and  future  use,  the  staff  of  the  clinic  has  been  increased 
until  it  now  includes  a  psychiatrist,  five  psychiatric  social  workers, 
two  full-time  stenographers,  and  extra  stenographic  service. 

So  far  as  the  psychiatrist's  time  is  not  fully  taken  up  with  her 
work  on  the  cases  of  children  newly  committed,  she  examines  for 
the  department  its  problem  cases,  including  its  oldest  commitments 
under  special  study  and  its  cases  of  children  about  to  be  placed  in 
free  homes  or  in  need  of  special  care  because  of  their  mental  or 
physical  condition.  In  the  first  11  months  of  1921,  275  examinations 
were  made;  of  the  children  examined,  L32  were  newly  becoming  pub- 
lic charges,  109  were  committed  in  previous  years,  is  were  wards  of 
the  department  who  were  not  public  charges,  and  L6  were  outside 
cases. 

All  cases  for  examination  are  referred  to  the  clinic  through  the 

central  office  of  the  department.     A  social-service  agent    makes  as 

complete  an  investigation  of  a  case  as  is  possible  and  necessary  for 

the  practical  and  immediate  handling  of  the  problem  presented.    In 

111532°— 22 10 


138  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION"   FOR  CHILD   CARE. 

the  cases  of  children  committed  for  destitution,  these  investigations 
are  thorough  and  complete.  In  many  of  the  cases  of  court  commit- 
ment, however,  the  department  does  not  know  of  the  commitment 
until  after  it  has  taken  place.  Because  of  the  pressure  of  work  upon 
the  social -service  agents — each  of  whom  has  from  54  to  170  families 
under  care,  according  to  the  territory  covered — they  can  not  con- 
ceivably make  as  complete  and  exhaustive  investigations  of  certain 
phases  of  the  child's  history  as  the  psychiatrist  needs.  Moreover, 
they  are  not  specially  trained  for  personality  study.  Each  social- 
service  investigation,  therefore,  is  studied  by  a  psychiatric  worker 
on  the  clinic  staff,  additional  work  is  put  upon  the  case  as  needed, 
and  special  attention  is  given  to  interviews  with  the  child's  parents 
and  to  the  study  of  his  personal  and  developmental  history.  The 
study  having  been  completed  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  clinic  agent, 
it  is  then  submitted  to  the  psychiatrist,  who  schedules  the  examina- 
tion and  carries  it  out  at  the  earliest  possible  time.  Whenever  pos- 
sible examinations  are  given  in  the  clinic's  office.  In  many  cases  this 
is  not  practicable,  either  because  the  child  has  been  committed  to  an 
institution  as  a  juvenile  delinquent  and  is  in  the  custody  of  the  insti- 
tution, or  because  the  two  weeks'  quarantine  regulation  of  institu- 
tions makes  it  inadvisable,  or  because  it  would  be  a  serious  interrup- 
tion to  a  child's  school  work  to  remove  him  even  for  a  few  hours. 
In  such  cases  the  psychiatrist,  with  the  hearty  cooperation  of  every 
institution  now  receiving  Westchester  charges,  makes  her  exami- 
nation at  the  institution.  The  time  required  for  an  examination 
varies  from  a  short  period  for  young  babies  to  several  hours  for 
older  children. 

The  type  of  examination  given  may  best  be  explained  in  the  words 
of  the  present  psychiatrist.  Dr.  Elizabeth  I.  Adamson : 

The  type  of  examination  given  is  uniform  in  character,  the  purpose  being  to 
determine  what  kind  of  child  we  are  dealing  with  and,  once  knowing  our 
material,  to  form  an  opinion  regarding  his  future  possibilities.  It  would  be 
unfair  to  him  and  deluding  ourselves,  therefore,  to  regard  him  solely  as  a 
physical  being  or  a  group  of  mental  reactions.  We  feel  that  the  child  should 
be  studied  as  a  unit,  considering  all  the  components  that  serve  to  make  him 
what  he  is,  whether  they  are  physical,  mental,  or  social.  We  try  to  think  of 
him  as  an  integrated  personality.  For  this  reason  he  must  be  studied  from 
many  angles  by  various  methods. 

Practically  considered,  the  study  comprises  a  mental  examination  (consist- 
ing of  a  psychological  and  psychiatric)  and  a  physical  examination.  The  psy- 
chological includes  a  complete  examination  by  the  Sanford  revision  of  the 
Binet-Simon  scale.  The  basal  age  is  found  in  a  routine  manner,  and  the  tests 
are  continued  through  the  group  corresponding  to  the  child's  chronological  age, 
even  though  he  has  failed  on  a  lower  age  group.  In  this  way  he  is  given  every 
possible  opportunity  to  show  his  intellectual  capability  and  perhaps  latent 
aptitudes.  This  less  plastic  type  of  test  is  always  supplemented  by  various 
performance  tests,  such  as  the  Goddard-Seguin  form  board,  and  Healy's  mare 


WESTCHESTER  COUNTY.  139 

and  foal  and  pictorial  completion  tests.  The  Porteus  maze  test  has  been  used 
with  partial  success.  When  considered  advisable,  the  foregoing  tests  are  sup- 
plemented by  the  Haggerty  school  test  and  by  others  which  serve  to  test  for 
special  functions,  such  as  association,  learning  ability,  or  memory.  We  always 
try  to  use  those  tests  which  have  been  satisfactorily  standardized  by  various 
psychologists  and  psychiatrists  over  a  long  period  of  time  and  with  large 
numbers  of  children. 

The  other  part  of  the  mental  examination,  though  not  so  easily  definable,  is 
oftentimes  of  much  more  importance  than  that  testing  for  intellectual  ability 
alone.  By  talking  with  the  child  and  allowing  him  to  say  what  he  wishes  with- 
out any  regard  for  the  time  element,  we  attempt  to  discover  his  personality 
traits  and  the  motive  for  his  actions,  thereby  uncovering  the  causes  for  his 
emotional  conflicts  and  antisocial  behavior,  if  there  are  any.  If  he  is  disin- 
clined to  express  his  thoughts  he  is  not  forced  to,  and  if  the  examination  is 
considered  unsuccessful  because  of  the  child's  resistiveness  he  is  asked  to 
return  at  some  future  time. 

The  physical  examination  requires  that  the  child  be  stripped,  except  in  the 
case  of  the  older  boys.  It  is  a  much  more  thorough  examination  than  that  given 
in  the  schools;  no  laboratory  tests  are  made,  however,  unless  symptoms,  physical 
findings,  or  family  or  personal  history  point  to  a  necessity  for  them.  For 
example,  Wassermann  tests  and  smears-are  taken,  or  urine  analysis  recom- 
mended, if  the  history  or  findings  point  to  syphilis,  gonorrhea,  or  some  disturb- 
ance of  the  urinary  system.  If  the  chest  examination  reveals  adventitious 
breath  or  heart  sounds,  the  child  is  sent  to  a  suitable  clinic  for  more  complete 
study  and  necessary  treatment.  This  procedure  also  applies  in  the  case  of 
other  abnormalities,  such  as  sensory  defects,  skin  and  orthopedic  conditions. 
In  recommendations,  advantage  is  taken  of  the  resources  of  the  county  and  of 
New  York  City. 

The  clinic  conference  continues  to  be  a  most  important  part  of  the 
work  of  the  clinic,  and  in  fact  of  the  whole  department.  It  is  held 
regularly  once  a  week,  oftener  if  necessary.  It  is  distinctly  a  case 
conference,  and  for  the  discussion  of  each  case  to  be  submitted  there 
are  present  the  district  agent  in  whose  territory  the  case  lias  arisen, 
the  clinic  agent  who  has  been  in  contact  with  it.  the  psychiatrist 
who  has  made  the  examination,  a  member  of  the  executive  staff  who 
is  in  a  position  to  state  to  what  extent  funds — either  public  or  pri- 
vate— may  be  expended  upon  the  case,  and  any  official  or  private 
citizen  who  may  have  special  and  legitimate  interest  in  it.  Discus- 
sion is  most  frank  and  confidential.  The  cases  presented  are  those 
that  the  psychiatrist  has  examined  during  the  preceding  week.  The 
district  agent  states  how  the  case  came  to  the  attention  of  the  depart- 
ment and' tells  briefly  of  her  initial  contact  with  it;  the  clinic  agent 
gives  a  synopsis  of  the  family  and  personal  history  of  the  child; 
and  the  psychiatrist  reports  her  findings,  concluding  with  tentative 
recommendations  as  to  the  proper  treatment  for  the  child.  There 
is  then  open  discussion  upon  these  recommendations,  and  a  plan  is 
worked  out  for  the  treatment  of  the  case.  Each  point  of  view- 
psychiatric,  social  service,  and  business — has  an  opportunity  for  ex- 
pression.    If  the  psychiatrist's  recommendations  seem  to  the  district 


140  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   CABE. 

agent  to  be  impracticable,  she  lias  full  opportunity  to  say  so  at  this 
time  before  a  plan  is  made.  If  the  district  agent's  point  of  view  has 
conceded  too  much  to  pressure  of  work  and  conventional  methods  of 
case  treatment,  the  psychiatrist  and  clinic  agent  have  an  opportunity 
to  urge  more  specialized  attention  for  the  child.  The  plan  agreed 
upon,  therefore,  is  a  group  affair,  undertaken  after  all  points  of  view 
have  been  considered.  From  the  beginning  the  conference  has  been 
a  most  valuable  influence.  As  the  staff  through  its  agency  became 
more  and  more  familiar  with  the  psychiatric  viewpoint,  the  plan  of 
having  district  agents  in  training  with  the  clinic  seemed  no  longer 
necessary  and  was  gradually  abandoned.  The  conference  is  a  gen- 
eral forum  for  discussion  of  the  different  points  of  view  on  each  case 
and  for  securing  the  thoughtful  and  consistent  treatment  of  each 
child  presented.  It  is,  moreover,  generally  educative,  in  that  it  in- 
fluences and  broadens  both  sides  by  giving  each  the  viewpoint  of  the 
other.  It  is  also  a  constant  incentive  to  the  whole  department  to  do 
better  case  work. 

In  spite  of  the  conference's  careful  planning  of  the  treatment  to 
be  given  each  child,  the  department  has  had  every  year  a  high  per- 
centage of  failure  in  carrying  out  the  plans  agreed  upon.  This  has 
been  due  in  large  part  to  lack  of  sufficient  community  resources; 
however,  in  cases  involving  especially  difficult  problems  it  has  been 
somewhat  due  to  lack  of  the  psychiatric  viewpoint  on  the  part  of 
many  of  the  field  agents ;  in  other  cases  the  pressure  of  work  upon 
the  field  agents — whose  duties  comprise  much  more  than  case 
work — has  made  impossible  the  spending  of  the  necessary  time  upon 
certain  difficult  problems  of  personal  adjustment  or  family  en- 
tanglement. To  avoid  such  failures,  so  far  as  lies  within  its  power, 
the  department  has  this  year  tried  the  experiment  of  referring  occa- 
sional cases  to  the  clinic  agents  for  follow-up  treatment.  This 
method  assures  special  attention  to  individual  children  and  tests 
cut  more  accurately  than  the  old  method  the  exact  resources  of 
this  American  community  for  the  proper  treatment  of  dependent 
children.  The  transfer  of  this  small  group  of  especially  chosen 
cases  from  one  worker  to  another  is  not  so  serious  a  matter  as  would 
at  first  seem,  because  the  cases  thus  transferred  are  those  of  chil- 
dren newly  committed,  who  in  many  instances  have  but  recently 
come  to  the  attention  of  the  district  agent,  and  when  committed 
by  the  courts  may  never  have  been  in  her  hands  even  for  investiga- 
tion. It  is  too  early  yet  to  give  an  opinion  on  the  success  of  this 
plan. 

The  practical  results  of  the  clinic's  work  are,  of  course,  most 
marked  in  the  treatment  of  individual  cases.  The  department's 
understanding  of  its  children  and  its  handling  of  individual  prob- 


WESTCHESTER   COUNTY.  141 

lems  of  maladjustment — whether  physical,  mental,  or  social — have 
been  improved  beyond  measure  by  the  clinic's  work.  Moreover, 
the  effect  of  the  clinic's  thorough  and  painstaking  analysis  of  each 
case  has  been  to  improve  the  entire  standard  of  the  department's 
work,  including  even  its  record  keeping.  The  value  to  the  depart- 
ment of  contact  with  the  clinic's  staff  is  very  great.  The  psychi- 
atrist gives  lectures  and  informal  talks  to  the  staff  from  time  to 
time  and  serves  as  advisor  in  medical  and  all  other  fields  connected 
with  her  training.  Constant  use  is  made  throughout  the  case  work 
of  her  knowledge  and  experience,  and  much  has  been  done  toward 
training  the  entire  staff  into  a  modern,  scientific  viewpoint  with 
regard  to  psychology  and  mental  hygiene.  There  seems  no  doubt 
that  the  influence  of  the  clinic's  work  has  spread  beyond  the  bound- 
aries of  the  department,  and  that  it  is  contributing  materially  to  a 
more  intelligent  atitude  on  the  part  of  the  general  public  toward 
problems  of  maladjustment  in  children  and  adults. 

Additional  private  funds  were  provided  to  be  spent  on  the  clinic's 
work  in  the  years  1921  and  1922,  in  the  hope  that  the  material  as- 
sembled might  later  on  be  of  some  value  for  research  purposes. 
It  would  be  a  great  satisfaction  to  the  department  if  some  small  part 
of  its  labors  should  prove  to  yield  information  of  interest  to  other 
child-caring  agencies.  It  is  also  the  department's  earnest  hope  that 
it  may  be  able  in  the  near  future  to  convince  the  county  that  the 
work  of  such  a  clinic  is  essential  to  the  fulfilling  of  the  public's 
responsibility  toward  its  dependent  children,  and  that  as  a  result 
the  county  will  assure  the  permanency  of  the  clinic  by  taking  over 
the  expense  of  maintaining  it. 

Miscellaneous  tasks  undertaken  by  the  department. 

A  department  with  a  large  staff  working  over  a  whole  county,  and 
covering  in  at  least  a  part  of  its  territory  area  untouched  by  any 
other  social-work  organization,  naturally  draws  to  itself  a  miscel- 
laneous assortment  of  problems  that  no  other  agency  is  prepared  to 
handle.  This  the  "Westchester  County  Department  of  Child  Welfare 
has  done.  Its  social-service  exchange,  covering  more  than  5,600  fami- 
lies known  to  its  workers,  present  and  past,  throughout  the  county, 
is  frequently  called  upon  by  other  organizations.  It  is  on  the  list  of 
at  least  two  nation-wide  associations  as  a  cooperating  agency,  and 
it  is  called  upon  constantly  by  outside  organizations  for  investiga- 
tions or  other  assistance.  It  does  considerable  work  of  a  social- 
service  nature  for  the  county  hospital  and  occasionally  for  the  county 
penitentiary.  It  has  definite,  official  connections  with  a  number  of 
private  organizations,  such  as  the  Westchester  County  Children's  As- 
sociation, the  Westchester  County  Council  of  Social  Agencies,  the 
American  Red  Cross  Home  Service,  the  American  Red  Cross  Disas- 


142  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

ter  Relief  Committee,  and  the  Westchester  County  Council  for  Pub- 
lic-Health Nursing. 

Because  it  has  a  psychiatrist  on  its  staff  and  the  only  staff  of  field 
agents  in  any  of  the  county  offices  or  departments,  the  department  of 
child  "welfare  has  become  a  clearing  house  for  mental  defectives  and 
epileptics,  both  children  and  adults,  throughout  the  county.  The 
passage  in  1919  of  the  mental  deficiency  act,11  which  made  the  county 
superintendent  of  the  poor  or  his  successor  a  possible  petitioner  for 
the  bringing  of  court  proceedings  in  cases  of  mental  deficiency,  in- 
creased the  need  for  the  department's  services  in  this  respect.  It  is 
now  involved  in  arranging  for  the  examination  and  commitment  of 
most  of  the  defectives  needing  care  in  Westchester  County  each  year. 
It  keeps  a  card  index  of  all  mental  defectives  known  to  it  within 
the  county,  with  a  brief  record  of  the  salient  facts  about  each  case. 
It  arranges  for  examinations  and  for  both  poor  law  and,  if  necessary, 
court  commitments  of  defectives.  Its  agents  also  make  the  trans- 
fers of  most  of  the  defectives,  excepting  adult  males,  to  the  various 
State  institutions.  In  the  course  of  the  year  this  adds  considerably 
to  the  department's  work.  In  1920  alone,  it  investigated  applica- 
tions for  the  care  of  72  defectives  and  epileptics,  secured  the  com- 
mitment of  31  of  these  to  institutions,  and  made  temporary  or  other 
arrangements  for  many  others. 

During  1921  the  department  has  ventured  also  into  the  field  of  tem- 
porary outdoor  relief.  According  to  the  New  York  State  poor  law, 
those  persons  who  do  not  have  a  city  or  town  settlement  within  a 
county's  limits  become  county  charges.  In  Westchester  each  year 
a  few  thousand  dollars  have  been  expended  for  relief  for  such  newly 
arrived  families.  This  year,  because  of  its  field  staff,  this  very  diffi- 
cult bit  of  family  relief  work  has  been  taken  over  by  the  department, 
and  although  the  number  of  cases  thus  cared  for  and  the  amount  of 
money  expended  in  the  first  11  months  of  1921  were  not  great,  the 
families  generally  presented  either  involved  legal  questions  of  settle- 
ment, difficult  social  problems,  or  both.  The  department  is  therefore 
in  many  ways  more  of  a  general  county-wide  social  welfare  agency 
than  its  title  would  necessarily  imply. 

Distinctive  features  and  future  needs. 

No  space  is  afforded  in  this  discussion  for  a  consideration  of  the 
relative  value  of  the  Westchester  County  system  and  other  methods 
of  administering  public  relief,  nor  of  the  strong  and  weak  points  in 
the  department's  work.  The  distinctive  points  in  the  system,  how- 
ever, would  seem  to  be  that  the  Westchester  County  Department  of 
Child  Welfare  furnishes  an  example  of:  (1)  A  unified  child-caring 
and  family-relief  agency  organized  on  a  county  basis  and  under  the 

11  N.  Y.  Laws  1919,  ch.  633,  sec.  27. 


WESTCHESTER   COUNTY.  113 

control  of  one  public  official;  (2)  the  use  of  a  staff  of  trained  social 
workers  in  a  public  organization ;  (3)  the  use  of  private  funds  to  sup- 
plement the  work  of  a  public  organization;  (4)  a  marked  degree  of 
cooperation  between  public  and  private  agencies,  fostered  from  its 
inception  by  the  public  administration;  and  (5)  an  organized  effort 
on  the  part  of  a  public  official  to  educate  taxpayers  and  private  citi- 
zens in  methods  of  child  care.  The  future  success  of  the  Westchester 
work  obviously  depends  largely  upon  the  development  of  a  strong 
public  sentiment  in  favor  of  keeping  the  care  of  dependent  children 
out  of  politics.  And  to  assure  successful  case  work  the  department 
decidedly  needs  to  foster  the  establishment  of  a  county  children's 
court 12 ;  to  promote  the  development  of  an  effective  central  council 
of  social  agencies,  thereby  bringing  about  a  more  perfect  articulation 
of  all  organizations  in  the  county  affecting  child  life;  to  develop  a 
boarding-out  system;  and  to  encourage  radical  improvements  in 
institutional  provision  and  care  for  various  classes  of  dependent 
children. 

13  See  note  10,  p.  132,  with  reference  to  the  "children's  court  act"  passed  by  the  1922 
session  of  the  Kew  York   Legislature. 


APPENDIXES. 


145 


APPENDIX  A. 

LAWS  AND  BILLS  RELATING  TO  COUNTY  BOARDS 
OF  CHILD  WELFARE  OR  PUBLIC  WELFARE. 

ARIZONA. 

[Laws  1921,  ch.  53.] 
COUNTY  CHILD-WELFARE  BOARDS. 

Sec.  10.  The  superior  court  of  each  county  of  this  State,  within  30  days  after 
this  act  becomes  effective,  shall  appoint  four  persons,  at  least  two  of  whom  shall 
be  women,  and  all  of  whom  shall  be  experienced  as  to  the  requirements  for  the 
support  and  maintenance  of  children.  They  shall  be  appointed  for  terms  of 
one,  two,  three,  and  four  years,  respectively,  so  that  the  terms  of  no  two  mem- 
bers shall  expire  during  the  same  year.  In  case  of  death  or  resignation,  the 
appointment  shall  be  made  only  for  the  unexpired  term.  Records  of  all  ap- 
pointments so  made  shall  be  entered  upon  the  journal  of  such  court.  The 
members  so  appointed  shall  serve  without  compensation  other  than  that  each 
member  shall  be  entitled  to  his  actual  necessary  traveling  expenses  incurred  by 
him  when  acting  under  the  directions  of  the  court,  or  acting  under  the  direc- 
tions of  the  county  child  welfare  board,  or  of  the  State  child  welfare  board  in 
the  discharge  of  their  duties  connected  with  this  act. 

Sec.  11.  The  court,  in  making  the  first  appointment  of  members  of  such  board, 
shall  designate  a  time  and  place  where,  within  10  days  after  such  appointment, 
the  persons  so  appointed  shall  meet  and  organize  by  the  election  of  a  chairman 
and  by  the  election  of  a  secretary  of  the  board.  At  such  meetings  the  board 
shall  fix  and  establish  days  for  regular  monthly  meetings  of  the  board,  and  in 
addition  to  the  regular  meetings  for  which  provisions  are  so  made,  meetings 
of  the  board  may  be  called  by  the  chairman  or  secretary  at  any  time  by  actual 
notice  to  the  members.  The  board  shall  have  power  to  establish  rules  and 
regulations  for  the  conduct  of  its  meetings,  for  the  conduct  of  its  hearings,  and 
shall  establish  forms  upon  which  to  make  reports  upon  any  subject  referred  to 
it  by  the  State  child  welfare  hoard,  or  for  applications  for  relief  to  mothers  for 
providing  support  and  maintenance  for  their  children,  and  other  tonus  deemed 
necessary  as  a  basis  for  action  of  the  board  as  to  matters  referred  to  in  this 
act.  The  forms  so  adopted  may  be  used  by  such  boards,  subject  to  such 
changes,  alterations,  and  amendments  thereto  as  may  he  required  by  the  judge 
of  the  superior  court,  or  by  the  State  child  welfare  hoard. 

Sec.  12.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  members  of  the  county  hoard  to  provide 
for  the  investigation  of,  and  to  investigate  Ihe  conditions  surrounding  any 
child  within  the  county  reported  to  it  ;is  being  an  orphan,  waif,  neglected  or 
abandoned  child;  and  upon  the  forms  adopted  for  such  purpose  report  the 
results  of  each  investigation  to  the  judge  of  the  superior  court  and  to  the 
State  child  welfare  hoard,  duplicating  the  same  reporl  to  each.  Any  person 
within  this  State  may  call  to  the  attention  of  the  county  child  welfare  board 
any  case  of  any  orphan,  waif,  abandoned  or  neglected  child  appearing  to  be  a 

147 


148  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

proper  case  for  further  action  by  the  board  under  the  provisions  of  this  law. 
And  it  shall  he  the  duty  of  the  county  board,  or  individual  members  thereof 
acting  under  the  direction  of  that,  hoard,  to  investigate  such  cases  and  report 
thereon. 

ARKANSAS. 

[Digest  of  the  Statutes    (Crawford  and  Moses)    1921,   sec.    1024:  Acts  of  1917,  Act  297, 

sec.  C] 

COUNTY  BOARDS  OF  PUBLIC  WELFARE. 

The  [Arkansas]  Charities  and  Correction  Commission  may  appoint  live  per- 
sons from  each  county,  two  of  whom  shall  be  women,  who  shall  constitute 
a  county  hoard  of  public  welfare  for  that  county.  The  members  of  each  county 
board  shall  serve  for  terms  of  five  (5)  years,  the  term  of  one  member  expiring 
each  year.  The  initial  appointments  to  such  board  shall  be  for  terms  of  one 
(1),  two  (2),  three  (3),  four  (4),  and  five  (5)  years  respectively.  Vacancies 
shall  be  filed  [filled]  by  the  said  commission.  Each  county  board  shall  organize 
according  to  the  instructions  of  the  charities  and  correction  commission. 
County  boards  of  public  welfare  shall  have  similar  powers  and  duties  of  inspec- 
tion regarding  institutions  and  agencies  within  their  respective  counties  to 
those  of  the  said  commission,  and  they  shall  work  under  the  direction  of  the 
said  commission  and  shall  report  to  said  commission  as  the  commission  may 
direct. 

MINNESOTA. 

[Statutes    Supplement  of  1917,  sees.  4053-4  to  4053-7,  inch] 
COUNTY   CHILD-WELFARE  BOARDS. 

Sec.  4.  County  child  welfare  boards — Appointment  of  agents. — The  State 
Board  of  Control  may,  when  requested  so  to  do  by  the  county  board,  appoint 
in  each  county  three  persons  resident  therein,  at  least  two  of  whom  shall  be 
women,  who  shall  serve  without  compensation  and  hold  office  during  the 
pleasure  of  the  board,  and  who,  together  with  a  member  to  be  designated  by  the 
county  board  from  their  own  number  and  the  county  superintendent  of  schools, 
shall  constitute  a  child-welfare  board  for  the  county,  which  shall  select  its 
own  chairman :  Prodded,  That  in  any  county  containing  a  city  of  the  first  class 
five  members  shall  be  appointed  by  the  State  Board  of  Control.  The  child- 
welfare  hoard  shall  perform  such  duties  as  may  be  required  of  it  by  the  said 
hoard  of  control  in  furtherance  of  the  purposes  of  this  act,  and  may  appoint 
a  secretary  and  all  necessary  assistants,  who  shall  receive  from  the  county 
such  salaries  as  may  be  fixed  by  the  child  welfare  board  with  the  approval  of 
the  county  board.  Persons  thus  appointed  shall  be  the  executive  agents  of  the 
child-welfare  hoard.     [1917,  ch.  194,  sec.  4.] 

Sec.  5.  Agents  where  no  child  welfare  board. — In  counties  where  no  child- 
welfare  board  exists  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  may  appoint  a  local  agent 
to  cooperate  with  the  State  board  of  control  in  furtherance  of  the  purpose  of 
this  act,  who  shall  receive  from  the  county  such  salary  as  may  be  fixed  by  the 
judge  with  the  approval  of  the  county  board.     [1917,  ch.  194,  sec.  5.] 

Sec  6.  Additional  duties  of  agents. — Agents  appointed  pursuant  to  sections  4 
and  5  may  also,  when  so  directed  by  the  county  board,  perform  the  duties  of 
probation  and  school  attendance  officers  and  may  aid  in  the  investigation  and 
supervision  of  county  allowances  to  mothers.     [1917,  ch.  194,  sec.  6.] 


LAWS   AND   BILLS.  149 

Sec.  7.  Expenses  of  members  and  agents. — The  traveling  and  other  necessary 
expense  of  the  several  members  of  the  child-welfare  board,  while  acting  officially 
as  members  of  such  board,  and  of  the  executive  agents  while  exclusively  em- 
ployed in  the  business  of  the  board,  shall  be  paid,  so  far  as  approved  by  the 
county  board,  out  of  the  general  revenue  fund  of  the  county  in  the  same  manner 
as  other  claims  against  the  county.      [1917,  ch.  194,  sec.  7.] 

Sec.  8.  This  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force  from  and  after  the  1st  day 
of  January,  1918.     [1917,  ch.  194,  sec.  8.] 

MISSOURI. 

[Laws  1921,  pp.  5S6-589.] 

COUNTY  SUPERINTENDENTS  OF  PUBLIC  WELFARE. 

Public  Welfare,  Superintendent  of. — Authorizing  county  courts  in  counties  of 
less  than  fifty  thousand  to  appoint  superintendent  and  assistants. 
An  Act  to  authorize  the  county  courts  of  the  several  counties  having  a  popula- 
tion of  less  than  50,000  to  appoint  a  superintendent  of  public  welfare  and 
assistants  thereto,  prescribing  the  qualifications  thereof  and  fixing  the  salary 
of  such  superintendent,  and  prescribing  the  powers  and  duties  of  such  officers, 
and  repealing  conflicting  acts  and  parts  of  acts. 

Sec  1.  County  court  may  appoint  county  .superintendent  of  public  welfare  and 
assistants. — The  county  court  in  each  county  may  in  its  discretion  appoint  a 
county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  and  such  assistants  as  it  may  deem 
necessary.  Whenever  the  county  court  of  any  county  has  appointed  a  superin- 
tendent of  public  welfare  such  officer  shall  assume  all  the  powers  and  duties 
now  conferred  by  law  upon  the  probation  or  parole  officer  of  such  county  and 
shall  assume  all  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  attendance  officer  in  said  county 
and  all  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  attendance  officer  in  any  incorporated 
town  or  village  having  a  population  of  more  than  1,000  inhabitants,  and  no  other 
or  different  probation  or  parole  officer  or  attendance  officer  or  officers  shall  be 
appointed  by  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court,  by  the  county  superintendent  of 
public  schools,  or  by  the  school  board  or  any  incorporated  city,  town,  or  village 
school  district  or  consolidated  school  district,  providing,  however,  that  the 
provision  of  this  section  shall  not  .apply  to  counties  which  now  have  or  which 
shall  hereafter  have  a  population  of  more  than  50,000  inhabitants. 

Sec.  2.  Compensation  to  be  fixed  by  county  court. — The  county  court  shall 
fix  the  salary  of  the  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  and  of  his  assist- 
ants in  its  county. 

Sec.  3.  Shall  administer  funds  devoted  to  outdoor  relief  and  allowances  to 
needy  mothers. — It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  county  superintendent  of  public 
welfare  to  administer  all  of  the  funds  of  the  county  devoted  to  outdoor  relief 
and  allowances  to  needy  mothers.  He  shall  seek  to  discover  any  cases  of 
neglect,  dependent,  defective,  or  delinquent  children  in  the  county  and  take  all 
reasonable  action  in  his  power  to  secure  for  them  the  full  benefil  of  the  laws 
enacted  for  their  benetit.  Assistants  to  the  county  superintendents  of  public 
welfare  shall  perform  such  of  the  duties  of  the  county  superintendent  or  public 
welfare  as  he  may  assign  to  them. 

Sec.  4.  May  be  authorized  and  required  to  act  as  agent. — The  county  superin- 
tendents of  public  welfare  may  be  deputized  or  authorized  and  required  by  the 
State  board  of  charities  and  corrections  to  act  as  its  agent  in  relation  to  any 


150  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION  FOR   CHTLD   CARE. 

work  to  be  done  by  said  board  within  tbe  county,  and  when  said  county  superin- 
tendent is  so  authorized  as  the  agent  of  the  State  board  of  charities  and  cor- 
rections, he  shall  have  the  same  powers  and  authority  as  are  given  to  the 
State  board  of  charities  and  corrections.  The  county  superintendent  of  public 
welfare  may  at  any  time  call  on  the  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections 
for  advice  and  assistance  in  the  performance  of  his  duties. 

Sec.  5.  County  superintendent  to  give  special  attention — When — To  whom. — 
The  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  in  each  county  shall,  upon  the  re- 
quest of  the  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections,  and  in  accordance  with 
its  direction,  give  special  care  and  attention  to  the  needs  of  any  patient  re- 
cently discharged  from  the  State  hospital  for  the  insane  who  resides  in  his 
county,  either  on  parole  or  permanent  discharge,  to  the  end  that  such  patients 
may  be  established  in  such  favorable  circumstances  as  shall  tend  to  prevent 
their  relapse  into  insanity,  and  shall  report  on  the  progress  of  such  former 
patients  to  the  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections,  and  under  its  direc- 
tion, to  the  institution  from  which  they  have  been  paroled  or  discharged. 

Sec.  6.  Shall  give  oversight  and  supervision  to  paroled  persons. — The  county 
superintendent  of  public  welfare  shall  give  such  oversight  and  supervision  to 
prisoners  who  are  on  parole  from  the  State  penitentiary  and  are  residing  in  his 
county,  and  to  persons  who  are  on  parole  from  the  Missouri  reformatory,  and 
Missouri  training  school  for  boys  and  to  girls  on  parole  from  the  State  indus- 
trial home  for  girls,  or  from  the  State  industrial  home  for  negro  girls,  as  may 
be  requested  by  the  State  prison  board,  and  shall  report  upon  the  progress  of 
said  paroled  prisoners  to  the  State  prison  board  as  often  as  it  may  request. 
The  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  in  each  county  shall  give  oversight 
and  supervision  to  prisoners  on  parole  or  probation  by  any  court  in  the  State 
of  Missouri,  and  shall  investigate  applications  for  clemency  when  requested  to 
do  so  by  said  courts,  and  shall  report  in  regard  to  each  person  placed  under 
his  supervision  to  the  court  placing  said  persons  under  his  supervision.  The 
county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  shall  also  give  oversight  and  supervi- 
sion to  children  placed  on  parole  or  probation  by  the  juvenile  court  or  the 
court  having  jurisdiction  of  children's  cases  in  his  county  when  requested  to 
do  so  by  said  court,  and  shall  report  to  said  court  upon  progress  of  persons  thus 
placed  on  parole  or  probation. 

Sec.  7.  Shall  act  as  representative  of  children's  oureau — Required  to  report. — 
The  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  in  each  county  shall  act  as  local 
representative  of  the  children's  bureau  of  the  State  board  of  charities  and  cor- 
rections, and  shall,  upon  the  request  of  said  bureau,  assist  in  finding  suitable 
foster  homes  and  shall  report  to  said  State  board  of  charities  and  corrections 
upon  the  progress  and  welfare  of  children  who  have  been  placed  in  foster  homes 
by  said  bureau. 

Sec.  8.  Shall  cooperate  with  State  employment  bureaus. — The  county  super- 
intendent of  public  welfare  in  each  county  shall  cooperate  with  the  State 
employment  bureaus  and  shall,  upon  request  of  the  head  of  such  bureaus,  fur- 
nish data  with  regard  to  the  opportunities  for  employment  in  their  respective 
counties  and  shall  aid  and  assist  in  any  practical  way  in  securing  employment 
for  the  unemployed  in  his  county. 

Sec.  9.  May  he  deputized  by  State  factory  inspector  as  agent — powers,  au- 
thority.— The  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  and  his  assistants  may 
be  deputized  by  the  State  factory  inspector  as  his  agent  or  agents,  and  when 
they  are  so  deputized  by  the  State  factory  inspector  they  shall  have  the  same 
powers  and  authority  as  deputy  factory  inspectors. 


LAWS  AND  BILLS.  151 

Sec.  10.  Duty  to  investigate  condition  of  poor,  sick,  and  delinquent  in 
county. — It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  county  superintendent  of  public  well  are  to 
investigate  the  conditions  of  living  among  the  poor,  sick,  and  delinquent  in  the 
county  and  to  examine  thoroughly  into  causes  of  crime  and  poverty  in  the 
county  and  to  make  recommendations  from  time  to  time  to  the  State  board  of 
charities  and  corrections  and  to  proper  local  authorities  as  to  any  change  in 
conditions  or  in  legislation  necessary  to  prevent  or  reduce  poverty,  crime,  or 
distress  in  the  State.  The  superintendent  of  public  welfare  and  bis  assistants 
may  be  deputized  as  agents  of  the  State  bureau  of  labor  statistics,  and  when 
they  are  so  deputized  as  agents  of  the  State  bureau  of  labor  statistics  they 
shall  exercise  all  the  authority  to  make  investigations  which  is  granted  the 
State  bureau  of  labor  statistics. 

Sec.  11.  Shall  have  powers  and  duties  of  an  attendance  o£lcer. — The  county 
superintendent  of  public  welfare,  upon  the  request  of  any  board  having  charge 
Of  a  public  school  in  any  district  in  the  county,  shall  act  as  attendance  officer 
to  enforce  the  provisions  of  sections  11323  to  11331,  inclusive,  of  the  Revised 
Statutes  of  Missouri,  1919,  and  in  any  such  case  shall  have  all  the  powers  and 
duties  of  an  attendance  officer,  as  provided  by  the  aforesaid  sections  or  other 
similar  acts. 

Sec.  12.  Shall  act  as  probation  officer  of  his  county. — The  county  superin- 
tendent of  public  welfare  shall  act  as  probation  officer  for  his  county  without 
additional  compensation. 

Sec.  13.  Shall  investigate  requests  for  charity  and  applications  for  blind  per- 
sons.— The  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  shall  be  agent  of  the  county 
court  in  his  county  in  investigating  all  requests  for  charity  and  applications  of 
blind  persons  for  pensions  in  his  county. 

Sec.  14.  Records  of  oases  handled  to  be  kept. — The  records  of  cases  handled 
and  business  transacted  by  the  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  shall 
be  kept  in  such  manner  and  form  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the  State  board  of 
charities  and  corrections. 

Sec.  15.  Record  of  work  and  proceedings  to  be  kept. — The  county  superin- 
tendent of  public  welfare  shall  each  year  prepare  and  keep  on  file  a  full 
report  of  his  work  and  proceedings  during  the  year  and  shall  file  a  copy  with 
the  county  court  and  with  the  secretary  of  the  State  board  of  charities  and 
corrections. 

Sec.  16.  Repealing  acts  and  parts  of  acts  in  conflict  with  this  act. — All  acts 
and  parts  of  acts  inconsistent  or  in  conflict  with  this  act  are  hereby  repealed, 
provided  that  this  act  shall  not  he  construed  to  repeal  or  amend  Chapter  III, 
article  2,  Revised  Statutes,  1919,  which  provides  for  social  welfare  boards  in 
certain  counties. 

Approved  March  31,  1921. 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 

[Consolidated  Statutes  1919*  eh.   88,  Art  2,   s.vs.   :>ot4-.r>01S,  as  amended  by   Laws   1921, 

cli.    128.] 

COUNTY  BOARDS  OF  CHARITIES  AND  PUBLIC  WELFARE. 

Sec.  5014.  County  fr>ai-d  of  charities,  etc.;  Appointment;  Duty. — The  stale 
board  shall  appoint  in  each  county  three  persons  to  he  known  as  the  county 
board  of  charities  and  public  welfare,  whose  duty  shall  he  to  advise  with  and 
assist  the  State  board  in  the  work  in  the  county,  to  make  such  visitations  and 


152  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION"   FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

reports  as  the  State  board  may  request,  and  to  act  in  a  general  advisory 
capacity  to  the  county  and  municipal  authorities  in  dealing  with  questions 
of  dependency  and  delinquency,  distribution  of  the  poor  funds,  and  social 
conditions  generally.  Tbe  members  of  the  county  hoard  of  charities  and 
public  welfare  shall  serve  without  pay.  The  State  heard  shall  have  the  power 
at  any  time  to  remove  any  member  of  the  county  heard.  [1917,  eh.  170,  sec.  1; 
1919,  ch.  46,  sec.  3.] 

Sec.  5015.  Term-  of  office  and  meetings  of  board.- — The  county  heard  of  chari- 
ties and  public  welfare  shall  he  appointed  one  for  one  year,  one  for  two  years, 
and  one  for  three  years,  and  subsequent  appointments  shall  he  for  a  term  of 
three  years.  Tbe  persons  so  appointed  shall  meet  immediately  after  their 
appointment  and  organize  by  electing  a  chairman,  and  the  county  superin- 
tendent of  public  welfare  shall  act  as  secretary.  The  county  board  shall  meet 
at  least  once  a  month  with  the  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare,  and 
advise  with  him  in  regard  to  problems  pertaining  to  his  office.  [1017,  ch.  170, 
sec.  1 ;  1919,  ch.  46,  sec.  4.] 

Sec.  5016.  County  superintendents  of  public  welfare. — On  the  second  Mon- 
day in  July,  nineteen  hundred  and  twenty-one,  and  on  the  second  Monday  in 
July  every  two  years  thereafter,  the  county  board  of  education  and  the  board 
of  county  commissioners  of  every  county  in  North  Caixdina  shall  meet  in  joint 
session  for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare, 
who  shall  serve  for  the  ensuing  two  years,  and  until  his  successor  is  elected 
and  qualified.  The  county  superintendent  of  public  instruction  shall  serve  as 
secretary  of  the  joint  meeting,  make  permanent  record  of  tbe  proceedings,  and 
issue  all  notices  and  reports  necessary  previous  and  subsequent  to  the  meeting. 
The  person  elected  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  shall  be  qualified 
by  character,  fitness,  and  experience  to  well  discharge  the  duties  thereof.  No 
one  so  elected  shall  begin  the  work  of  this  position  until  he  shall  have  received 
a  certificate  of  approval  of  his  fitness  from  the  State  board  of  charities  and 
public  welfare;  and  in  case  such  approval  is  not  received,  the  two  boards  shall, 
upon  receiving  notice  thereof,  proceed  immediately  in  like  manner  to  elect 
another  person.  In  case  of  a  tie  vote,  tbe  matter  may  be  referred  for  decision 
to  the  State  commissioner  of  public  welfare.  A  joint  session  of  the  two  boards 
may  be  held  at  any  time  on  the  call  of  the  chairman  of  either  board  for  the 
purpose  of  discussing  the  work  relating  to  the  office;  and  a  superintendent 
may  be  dismissed  by  joint  action  for  proven  unfitness  or  failure  in  the  per- 
formance of  duty,  and  his  successor  elected.  It  is  hereby  declared  to  be  the 
purpose  of  this  section  that  tbe  board  of  education  and  the  board  of  county 
commissioners  shall  act  in  a  spirit  of  mutual  cooperation  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  the  best  possible  results  in  carrying  out  the  intention  of  this  act. 
The  joint  meeting  shall  fix  the  salary  of  the  county  superintendent  of  public 
welfare,  which  sum  shall  be  sufficient  to  secure  the  services  of  a  well-qualified 
person,  and  one-half  of  which  shall  be  paid  from  tbe  funds  of  each  board,  and 
a  reasonable  expense  fund  shall  be  provided  by  each  board  for  carrying  on 
the  work,  which  sum  shall  be  separate  from  that  allowed  as  salary  for  the 
county  superintendent.  In  counties  having  a  population  of  less  than  thirty- 
two  thousand  (32.000),  by  the  census  of  nineteen  hundred  and  twenty,  and  in 
counties  where,  on  January  first,  nineteen  hundred  and  twenty-one,  the  superin- 
tendent of  education  was  performing  the  functions  of  county  superintendent 
of  public  welfare,  the  board  of  county  commissioners  shall  have  tbe  option  of 
taking  part  or  of  not  taking  part  in  the  election  of  a  county  superintendent 
of  public  welfare  as  provided  above.     In  any  county  of  less  than  thirty-two 


LAWS   AND   BILLS.  153 

thousand  (32,000)  population,  where  the  county  commissioners  do  not  desire 
to  so  participate,  the  county  superintendent  of  public  instruction  shall  become 
ex  officio  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare.  Whenever  by  such  action 
a  county  superintendent  of  public  instruction  becomes  ex  officio  county  super- 
intendent of  public  welfare,  he  shall  receive  no  salary  in  addition  to  that  re- 
ceived as  county  superintendent  of  schools,  but  the  board  of  education,  by  and 
with  the  approval  of  the  board  of  commissioners,  shall  furnish  him  such  cleri- 
cal or  other  assistance  as  it  deems  necessary  to  have  the  compulsory  school 
attendance  law  fully  enforced  in  accordance  with  the  rules  and  policy  laid 
down  by  the  State  board  of  education,  and  the  board  of  county  commissioners 
shall  furnish  a  reasonable  expense  fund  for  carrying  out  the  other  duties  at- 
tached by  law  to  the  office  of  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare.  All 
such  duties  shall  be  as  binding  upon  the  county  superintendent  of  public  wel- 
fare as  they  would  be  in  case  he  were  not  county  superintendent  of  schools. 
Every  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  shall  make  such  reports  of  his 
work  to  the  county  board  of  education  and  the  board  of  county  commissioners 
as  said  boards  may  require.  [1917,  ch.  170,  sec.  1;  1919,  ch.  46,  sees.  3  and  4; 
1921,  ch.  12S.] 

Sec.  5017.  Powers  and  duties  of  county  superintendent. — The  county  super- 
intendent of  public  welfare  shall  be  the  chief  school  attendance  officer  of  the 
county,  and  shall  have  other  duties  and  powers,  as  follows : 

1.  To  have,  under  control  of  the  county  commissioners,  the  care  and  super- 
vision of  the  poor  and  to  administer  the  poor  funds. 

2.  To  act  as  agent  of  the  State  board  in  relation  to  any  work  to  be  done  by 
the  State  board  within  the  county. 

3.  Under  the  direction  of  the  State  board,  to  look  after  and  keep  up  with  the 
condition  of  persons  discharged  from  hospitals  for  the  insane  and  from  other 
State  institutions. 

4.  To  have  oversight  of  prisoners  in  the  county  on  parole  from  penitentiaries, 
reformatories,  and  all  parole  prisoners  in  the  county. 

5.  To  have  oversight  of  dependent  and  delinquent  children,  and  especially 
those  on  parole  or  probation. 

G.  To  have  oversight  of  all  prisoners  in  the  county  on  probation. 

7.  To  promote  wholesome  recreation  in  the  county  and  to  enforce  such  laws 
as   regulate  commercial    amusement. 

8.  Under  the  direction  of  the  State  board,  to  have  oversight  of  dependent 
children  placed  in  the  county  by  the  State  board. 

9.  To  assist  the  State  board  in  finding  employment  for  the  unemployed. 

TO.  To  investigate  into  the  cause  of  distress,  under  the  direction  of  the  State 
board,  and  to  make  such  other  investigations  in  the  interest  of  social  welfare 
as  the  State  board  may  direct.     [1917,  ch.  170,  sec.  1;  1919,  ch.    hi,  sec.  :;.] 

Sec.  5018.  Joint  city  and  county  welfare  work. — In  counties  where  there 
are  cities  which  already  have  a  local  board  of  welfare  or  other  social  agencies, 
or  which  may  wish  to  establish  such,  the  governing  bodies  of  such  cities  may 
make  such  arrangements  with  the  counts  commissioners  to  consolidate  the  work 
under  the  authority  and  supervision  of  the  county  board  of  charities  and 
public  welfare  as  may  be  mutually  agreed  upon  with  such  division  of  expenses 
as  may  be  equitable.  The  governing  bodies  of  such  cities  and  the  county  com- 
missioners are  authorized  to  make  such  provision  for  tic  expense  of  carrying 
on  the  work  as  they  may  deem  advisable,  and  may  delegat  «  to  the  county  board 
of  charities 'and  public  welfare  all  necessary  power.  [l'Jl!>.  ch.  -Id,  sec.  4.] 
111532°— 22 11 


154  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

OHIO. 

[Laws  1919,  p.  538.] 

An  Act  to  amend  sections  3092,  3109,  3112,  3113,  3118,  and  3119  of  the  General 
Code,  and  to  enact  supplemental  section  3092—1,  relative  to  the  abandon- 
meat  and  sale  of  children's  homes  and  the  custody  of  dependent  children  in 
such  cases  and  authorizing  the  use  el'  such  homes  by  adjoining  counties. 
Sec.  1.  That  sections  3092,  3109,  3112,  3113,  3118,  and  3119  of  the  General 
Code  be  amended  and  supplemental  section  3092-1  be  enacted,  to  read  as  fol- 
lows: 

Sec.  3092.  Commissioners  may  contract  for  care  of  dependent  children  in 
certain  institutions,  when;  when  county  welfare  hoard  may  be  appointed; 
powers  and  duties  of  such  board. — In  any  county  where  such  home  has  not 
already  been  provided,  or  where  such  home  has  been  abandoned  by  the  county 
commissioners  as  provided  by  law,  the  board  of  county  commissioners  may 
enter  into  a  contract  for  the  care  of  its  neglected  or  dependendent  children  with 
a  county  children's  home  in  another  county,  or  with  any  institution  or  asso- 
ciation in  the  State  which  has  for  one  of  its  objects  the  care  of  dependent  or 
neglected  children,  provided  such  institution  or  association  has  been  duly 
certified  by  the  board  of  State  charities ;  or  the  board  of  county  commissioners 
may  pay  reasonable  board  and  provide  suitable  clothing  and  personal  neces- 
sities as  well  as  medical,  dental,  and  optical  examination  and  treatment  of 
dependent  or  neglected  children  who  may  be  placed  in  the  care  of  private 
families  within  the  county.  Provided,  That  in  any  such  case  such  dependent 
or  neglected  children  shall  be  duly  committed  to  the  aforesaid  institution 
or  association  or  placed  in  the  care  of  a  private  family  by  the  juvenile  court 
as  provided  by  law.  Provided,  That  with  the  approval  of  the  board  of  State 
charities,  when  in  the  judgment  of  the  county  commissioners  the  best  interests 
of  the  dependent  wards  of  the  county  will  be  subserved  thereby,  they  may 
appoint  a  county  child-welfare  board  of  four,  two  members  of  winch  shall  be 
women,  to  serve  without  compensation,  such  appointments  to  be  stirlject,  as 
far  as  applicable,  to  the  provisions  of  sections  3081  and  3082  of  the  General 
Code.  Such  board  shall  have  the  same  powers  and  duties  relative  to  de- 
pendent children  as  are  now  given  to  trustees  of  county  children's  homes,  so 
far  as  applicable,  particularly  relating  to  the  appointment  of  a  visitor  for 
the  finding  and  supervision  of  family  homes  for  such  children. 

VIRGINIA. 

[Acts  1922.] 

COUNTY  AND  CITY  BOARDS  OF  PUBLIC  WELFARE. 

Sec.  12.  The  circuit  court  of  each  county  of  the  State,  or  the  judge  thereof 
in  vacation,  shall,  and  the  corporation  or  hustings  court,  or  the  judge  thereof  in 
vacation,  of  each  city  of  the  first  class,  may,  appoint,  from  a  list  of  eligibles 
submitted  by  the  State  board  of  public  welfare,  a  county  or  city  board  of  public 
welfare  consisting  of  not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  seven  members,  prefer- 
ably the  latter  number.  The  first  appointments  under  this  section,  except  in 
cities  of  the  first  class,  shall  be  made  not  later  than  two  years  from  the  date  of 
the  passage  of  this  act.  Each  member  of  a  county  or  city  board  of  public  wel- 
fare shall  be  a  resident  of  the  county  or  city  for  which  the  particular  board  is 
appointed,  and  the  terms  of  the  members  of  each  board  shall  be  so  an-anged 
that  one  or  more  (but  not  all)  shall  expire  annually.    No  appointments  shall  be 


LAWS   AND   BILLS.  155 

made  for  a  term  longer  than  four  years.  Upon  the  expiration  of  Hi*'  term 
of  a  member  his  successor  shall  be  appointed  upon  the  recommendation  of  the 
State  board  of  public  welfare  for  a  term  of  four  years.  Any  member  of  a 
county  or  city  board  may  be  removed  at  any  time  for  cause  by  the  State  board 
of  public  welfare,  by  and  with  the  approval,  entered  of  record,  of  the  court  or 
judge  making  the  appointment.  But  this  section  is  subject  to  the  following 
qualification :  In  cities  of  the  first  class  having  departments  of  public  welfare 
or  like  departments,  at  the  passage  of  this  act,  [a]  city  board  of  welfare  shall 
not  be  appointed ;  but  the  councils  or  other  governing  bodies  of  such  cities 
shall,  by  ordinance,  apportion  the  powers  and  duties  by  this  act  conferred  and 
imposed  upon  county  and  city  boards  and  superintendents  of  public  welfare 
among  the  officers  or  departments  of  the  particular  city  government  in  such 
manner  as  they  may  deem  wise.  For  the  purposes  of  this  act  cities  of  the  sec- 
ond class  shall  in  all  respects  be  deemed  to  be  parts  of  the  counties  in  which 
the  same  are  situated,  and  residents  of  any  such  city  shall  for  the  purposes  of 
this  act  be  deemed  to  be  residents  of  the  county  in  which  the  city  is  situated. 

Sec.  13.  The  clerk  of  the  court  shall  immediately  notify  the  members  of  the 
county  or  city  board  of  their  appointment,  and  such  members  shall,  within  15 
days  after  their  notification,  meet  at  some  convenient  place  and  organize  by 
electing  a  chairman  from  among  their  number.  The  county  or  city  board  shall 
thereafter  meet  bimonthly  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  the  month,  and  on  other 
occasions  on  call  of  the  chairman  or  in  pursuance  of  action  by  the  board.  Min- 
utes of  the  attendance  and  of  the  transactions  of  all  meetings  of  the  board 
shall  be  kept  on  file  by  the  secretary  of  .the  board,  and  copies  thereof  shall  be 
transmitted  to  the  State  board  of  public  welfare  within  3  days  after  each  meet- 
ing. The  State  board  may  declare  the  place  of  any  county  or  city  member  va- 
cant upon  three  consecutive  absences  without  reasonable  excuse  by  such  mem- 
ber from  the  meetings  of  his  board,  and  the  court  shall  appoint  a  successor  upon 
the  request  of,  and  from  an  eligibility  list  submitted  by,  the  State  board.  The 
county  or  city  superintendent  of  public  welfare,  if  one  has  been  appointed  as 
hereinafter  provided,  shall  act  as  secretary  of  his  board.  In  counties  and  cities 
where  no  such  superintendent  has  been  appointed  the  local  board  shall  elecl 
a  secretary  from  among  their  number.  The  secretary  shall  file  a  report  of  such 
organization  signed  by  himself  and  the  chairman,  with  the  clerk  of  the  circuit 
court  of  the  county  or  the  corporation  court  of  the  city,  and  with  the  Stat<> 
board  of  public  welfare.  The  members  of  each  of  the  aforesaid  count;  ami 
city  boards  shall  serve  without  pay.  But  no  member  shall  enter  upon  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties  unless  and  until  he  shall  have  taken  the  usual  oaths  of 
office  before  the  court  or  judge  which  appointed  him,  or  the  clerk  thereof  in  va- 
cation. Such  court  or  judge  may,  in  its  or  his  discretion,  require  each  of  the 
members  of  the  board  appointed  by  it  or  him  to  enter  into  a  bond,  with  surety 
to  be  approved  by  the  court  or  judge,  in  such  sum  as  the  court  or  judge  may  fix, 
conditioned  upon  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  duties. 

Sec.  14.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  each  county  or  city  board  of  public  welfare, 
by  personal  visitation  or  otherwise,  to  keep  itself  fully  advised  of  the  con- 
ditions and  management  of  all  institutions  of  a  charitable  or  penal  nature  in 
its  county  or  city,  and  to  that  end  [it]  shall  have  full  authority  to  Inspect 
such  institutions  and  shall  be  given  full  access  to  the  accounts  and  records 
thereof;  to  interest  itself  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  social  welfare  of 
the  people  of  its  county  or  city  and  to  direct  the  activities  of  the  superintendent 
of  public  welfare,  where  there  is  one,  and  to  cooperate  with  the  Juvenile  and 
domestic  relations'  courts  and  all  other  agencies  operating  tor  the  social  bet- 
terment of  the  couuty  or  city,    The  county  or  city  board  of  public  welfare  shall, 


156  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD    CARL. 

when  it  may  deem  it  advisable  and  expedient,  elect  from  u  list  of  eligibles  sub- 
mitted by  the  State  board,  a  county  or  city  superintendent  of  public  welfare 
and  such  assistants  as  the  local  board  may  deem  necessary  who  shall  hold 
office  at  the  pleasure  of  the  local  board  or  until  their  successors  are  appointed 
and  qualified.  The  county  or  city  board  shall,  upon  the  request  of  the  State 
board,  officially  consider  the  discharge  and  replacement  of  any  county  or  city 
superintendent.  The  salaries  of  the  said  officer  and  his  assistants  shall  be  fixed 
by  the  county  board  of  supervisors,  or  the  governing  body  of  the  city,  if 
in  their  discretion  such  officers  are  necessary,  and  shall  be  paid  out  of  the 
county  or  city  treasury.  Two  or  more  counties,  or  a  city  of  the  first  class 
and  a  county,  may  unite  in  providing  for  a  local  superintendent  of  public 
welfare,  and  the  expenses  incident  to  such  employment  may  be  divided  in 
such  manner  as  they  may  agree  upon. 

Sec.  15.  Each  county  and  city  superintendent  of  public  welfare  shall  be  the 
executive  officer  of  the  board  appointing  him.  Before  entering  upon  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duties  every  such  superintendent  shall  take  the  usual  oaths  of 
office  before  the  court  which  appointed  his  board,  or  the  judge  thereof  in 
vacation,  and  shall  also  enter  into  bonds  with  surety  to  be  approved  by  the 
court  or  judge,  in  such  sum  as  the  court  or  judge  may  fix,  conditioned  upon 
the  faithful  discharge  of  his  duties.  Every  such  superintendent  is  hereby 
vested  with  the  powers  of  a  police  officer  or  constable.  Under  the  supervision, 
control,  and  direction  of  such  local  board  and  in  cooperation  with  other  public 
and  private  agencies  he  shall  have  power  and  it  shall  be  his  duty: 

(a)  To  have  the  care  and  supervision  of  the  poor  and  to  administer  the 
funds  now  administered  by  the  overseers  of  the  poor. 

(&)  To  administer  mothers'  aid  funds,  if  any,  in  accordance  with  the  provi- 
sions of  State  law. 

(c)  Under  direction  of  the  State  board  of  public  welfare,  to  look  after 
and  supervise  the  conditions  of  persons  discharged  or  paroled  from  hospitals 
for  the  insane  and  colonies  for  the  epileptic  and  feeble-minded  and  from  other 
State  institutions. 

(d)  To  act  as  the  agent  of  the  State  board  in  relation  to  any  work  to  be 
done  by  said  board  within  the  county  or  city. 

(c)  To  have  oversight  of  persons  in  the  county  or  city  released  on  probation 
or  on  parole  from  the  penitentiary,  reformatories,  industrial  schools,  and  all 
paroled  prisoners  in  the  county  or  city. 

(f)  Under  direction  of  the  State  board  to  have  supervision  of  dependent 
children  placed  in  the  county  or  city  by  the  State  board. 

(g)  To  assist  the  State  board  in  finding  employment  for  the  unemployed. 
(/()   To  investigate  the  causes  of  distress,  under  the  direction  of  the  State 

board,  and  to  make  such  other  investigations  as  the  State  board  may  direct. 

(0  To  act  as  chief  probation  officer  for  the  county  or  city,  and  as  such 
to  enforce  and  administer  the  probation  laws  within  the  county  or  city. 

ij)  To  foster  cooperation  and  intelligent  division  of  work  between  all  public 
and  private  charitable  and  social  agencies  in  the  county  or  city  to  the  end 
that  public  resources  and  charitable  donations  may  be  conserved  and  the  needs 
of  the  county  or  city  be  adequately  cared  for. 

The  records  of  the  cases  handled  and  business  transacted  by  the  local 
superintendent  shall  be  kept  in  such  manner  and  form  as  may  be  prescribed 
by  the  State  board  of  public  welfare.  He  shall  each  year  prepare  and  keep 
on  file  a  full  report  of  his  work  and  proceedings  during  the  year,  and 
shall  file  one  copy  of  such  report  with  the  county  clerk,  or  the  clerk  of  his 
corporation  or  hustings  court,  and  another  with  the  State  board  of  public 
welfare, 


LAWS   AND   BILLS.  157 

BILL    RECOMMENDED     BY     THE    KANSAS    CHILDREN'S 
CODE  COMMISSION,  1921.1 

COUNTY  DEPARTMENTS  OF  PUBLIC  WELFARE. 

An  Act  To  authorize  a  county  department  of  public  welfare  in  each  county, 
composed  of  a  board  of  public  welfare  and  county  superintendent  and  con- 
solidate under  its  administration  the  various  humanitarian  and  social  activi- 
ties o£  the  county. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Kansas: 

Sec.  1.  That  the  county  commissioners  of  each  county  in  the  State  of  Kansas 
are  hereby  authorized  to  establish  a  county  department  of  public  welfare,  which 
shall  consist  of  a  county  board  composed  of  five  persons,  two  or  three  of  whom 
shall  be  women,  and  not  more  than  three  shall  have  the  same  political  affilia- 
tion ;  one  of  whom  shall  be  designated  to  serve  for  one  year,  two  for  two  years, 
and  two  for  three  years,  and  upon  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  each  his  or 
her  place  and  that  of  his  or  her  successor  shall  in  like  manner  be  filled  for  three 
years ;  and  the  said  county  commissioners  are  further  authorized  to  appoint, 
on  the  recommendation  of  the  county  board  of  public  welfare,  a  county  superin- 
tendent of  public  welfare  and  such  assistants  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  for 
the  carrying  out  of  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

Sec.  2.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  county  board  of  public  welfare  to 
recommend  to  the  board  of  county  commissioners  the  appointment  of  the  county 
superintendent  of  public  welfare;  to  inspect  all  penal  and  charitable  institu- 
tions in  the  county ;  to  visit  commercialized  amusements,  places  where  chil- 
dren are  employed,  all  playgrounds  and  parks;  and  to  make  a  monthly  report 
of  the  results  of  observations  and  inspections  to  the  said  board  of  county  com- 
missioners, and  an  annual  report  of  the  operation  of  the  board  to  the  State 
board  of  administration  for  each  preceding  fiscal  year.  It  shall  be  the  further 
duty  of  the  county  board  of  the  department  of  public  welfare  to  advise  with 
the  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  and  to  direct  and  support  the 
work  of  the  said  superintendent  of  public  welfare. 

Sec.  3.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  county  superintendent  of  public 
welfare  to  act  as  executive  secretary  of  the  board  of  public  welfare,  and  also 
to  perform  the  services  of  the  county  poor  commissioner  or  other  agencies 
for  administering  public  funds  voted  to  the  care  of  the  poor  in  the  county, 
to  determine  the  number  and  to  classify  all  defective,  dependent,  and  delinquent 
persons,  and  to  carry  on  investigations  relating  to  the  welfare  of  all  children 
of  the  county  with  the  object  to  determine  their  social  needs.  lie  shall  take 
all  reasonable  action  within  his  power  to  secure  for  the  children  of  the  county 
the  full  benefits  of  laws  enacted  in  their  behalf,  including  the  child-labor  laws, 
truancy  laws,  laws  aimed  to  protect  the  moral  standards  of  the  community. 
He  shall  investigate  and  report  to  the  county  commissioners  ;ill  applications 
for  mothers'  aid  or  mothers'  pensions,  and  shall  perform  all  of  the  services 
for  the  public  welfare  which  may  he  indicated  by  the  county  department 
of  public  welfare;  he  shall  acl  us  probation  and  parole  officer  tor  the  judge 
of  the  juvenile  court,  and  in  special  cases  for  the  judge  of  the  district  court 
whenever  lie  shall  request  this  service  of  the  superintendent  of  public  welfare: 
he  shall  be  the  chief  truancy  officer  for  the  county. 

Sec.  4.  'That  no  person  shall  he  eligible  to  appointment  as  county  superin- 
tendent  of  public    welfare  or  shall   he    entitled   to  he   paid    as    such    unless   the 

1  House  Bill   No.  311,   1021. 


158  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

person  has  ;i  certificate  <>f  qualification  from  the  state  hoard  of  administration. 

The  State  board  <>f  administration  shall  devise  a  method  of  determining  who 
are  properly  qualified  for  the  position  of  county  superintendent  of  public  wel- 
fare, and  may  at  its  discretion  cause  such  certificates  to  be  classified  and  to 
expire  periodically  after  the  manner  of  teachers'  certificates. 

Sec.  5.  That  the  members  of  the  board  of  public  welfare  in  the  county  depart- 
ment of  public  welfare  shall  servo  without  compensation,  but  a  reasonable 
allowance  may  be  made  by  the  county  commissioners  for  expenses  for  the 
said  board,  the  same  to  be  paid  in  manner  like  other  similar  bills  of  expense 
nted  for  payment  to  the  said  board  of  county  commissioners.  The  salaries 
of  the  county  superintendents  of  public  welfare  throughout  the  State  shall  be  on 
a  uniform  basis  and  in  proportion  to  the  population  of  their  respective  counties, 
and  shall  be  fixed  by  the  board  of  county  commissioners  as  follows:  Counties 
with  100,000  population  or  over,  $2,500;  50,000  to  100,000  population,  $2,000; 
20,000  to  50,000  population,  $1,500;  under  20,000  population,  $1,200. 

Sec  6.  That  the  State  board  of  administration  is  hereby  authorized  to  ap- 
point  a  State  superintendent  of  public  welfare,  who  shall  serve  at  the  pleasure 
of.  the  board,  at  a  salary  of  $3,500  a  year  and  traveling  expenses.  His  duties 
shall  be  to  assist  in  the  organization  of  county  boards  of  public  welfare  and 
direct  and  supervise  their  work.  The  person  appointed  to  fill  the  position 
of  State  superintendent  of  public  welfare  shall  have  had  special  training  and 
expert  knowledge  in  all  phases  of  charitable  and  penal  education  and  all  forms 
of  social  welfare.  No  one  except  a  scientific  expert  of  this  nature  shall  be 
appointed  to  said  office  of  the  State  superintendent  of  public  welfare. 

Sec.  7.  That  the  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare  in  each  county 
shall  report  in  such  manner  and  form  as  may  be  requested  by  the  State  board 
of  administration  in  regard  to  the  nature  and  extent  of  his  activities  in  his 
county  and  in  regard  to  those  social  conditions  which  affect  poverty,  crime,  and 
distress. 

Sec.  8.  That  all  acts  and  parts  of  acts  which  are  in  conflict  with  the  provi- 
sions of  this  act  are  hereby  repealed. 

Sec  9.  That  this  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force  from'  and  after  its 
publication  in  the  statute  book. 

BILL   RECOMMENDED   BY   THE  NEBRASKA   CHILDREN'S 
CODE  COMMISSION,  192 1.2 

COUNTY  BOARDS  OF  CHILD  WELFARE. 

A  Bill  for  an  act  to  consolidate  the  child-welfare  work  in  each  county  of  the 
State;  to  establish  county  boards  of  child  welfare;  to  provide  for  county 
superintendents  of  child  welfare,  to  prescribe  their  powers  and  duties,  and 
to  fix  their  compensation. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Nebraska: 

Sec  1.  Within  thirty  days  after  this  act  goes  into  effect,  the  judge  of  the 
juvenile  court  of  each  county  shall  appoint  three  electors  resident  therein,  at 
least  one  of  whom  shall  be  a  woman,  who.  together  with  the  county  superin- 
tendent of  schools  and  one  member  of  the  board  of  county  commissioners  or 
county  supervisors  who  shall  be  designated  by  such  board  of  commissioners  or 
supervisors  for  that  purpose,  shall  constitute  the  county  board  of  child  welfare. 
Upon    the    appointment    of    the    above-named    board    and    regularly    thereafter 

2  Report   of   the   Nebraska   Children's  Code   Commission,    pp.    230-234.     Department   of 

Public  Welfare,  Lincoln,  Nebr, 


LAWS   AOT3   BILLS.  159 

the  judge  shall  file  the  name,  address,  and  dates  of  term  of  office  with  the  State 
bureau  of  child  welfare. 

Sec.  2.  The  members  of  the  county  board  of  child  welfare  shall  serve  with- 
out compensation.  The  appointive  members  shall  hold  office  as  follows:  The 
term  of  one  shall  expire  January  1.  1922;  of  the  second,  January  1,  1923;  and 
of  the  third,  January  1,  1924,  said  term  of  office  to  he  designated  to  each 
appointee  by  the  appointing  judge,  and  all  succeeding  appointees  shall  hold 
office  for  a  regular  term  of  three  years.  Appointments  to  fill  vacancies  shall  be 
for  the  unexpired  term. 

Sec.  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  county  board  of  child  welfare  to  advise 
with  and  to  assist  the  State  child  welfare  bureau  in  its  work  in  the  county,  to 
make  such  visitations  and  reports  and  to  perform  such  duties  as  may  be  re- 
quired of  it  by  the  State  child  welfare  bureau,  and  to  act  in  a  general  advisory 
capacity  to  the  county  and  municipal  authorities  in  dealing  with  quest 
involving  the  administration  of  laws  relating  to  children,  and  the  amelioration  of 
conditions  affecting  children  generally.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  coursty 
board  of  child  welfare  to  cooperate  with  all  social  agencies  in  the  county,  and 
upon  request  of  any  public  social  agency  it  may,  in  the  interests  of  economy  and 
efficiency,  assume  the  duties  of  that  agency  in  the  county. 

Sec.  4.  The  county  hoard  of  child  welfare  shall  have  power  to  appoint  an 
executive  agent,  to  be  known  as  the  county  superintendent  of  child  welfare, 
who  shall  serve  at  the  pleasure  of  the  hoard,  ami  wlmse  salary  shall  he  fixed 
by  said  board  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  county  hoard  of  commissioners 
or  supervisors,  and  paid  from  the  public  funds  of  the  county  upon  warrants 
signed  by  the  chairman  of  the  county  hoard:  Provided,  That  no  person  shall 
be  appointed  to  the  office  of  county  superintendent  of  child  welfare  who  has 
not  been  duly  certified  by  the  State  child  welfare  bureau  as  qualified  by  training 
and  character  to  serve  in  such  capacity. 

Sec.  5.  The  county  superintendent  of  child  welfare  shall  have  power  and  it 
shall  he  his  duty  : 

(1)  To  act  as  county  attendance  officer  when  so  ordered  by  the  county  board 
of  child  welfare  and  to  enforce  all  laws  relating  to  compulsory  education  and 
child  labor. 

(2)  To  act  as  county  probation  officer  upon  appointment  by  the  judge  of  the 
juvenile  court. 

(3)  To  investigate  all  applicants  for  mothers'  pensions,  and  for  poor  relief 
where  children  are  involved,  to  make  recommendations  to  the  proper  authorities 
for  or  against  such  assistance,  and  to  keep  complete  records  of  all  such  investi- 
gations and  recommendations. 

(4)  To  promote  wholesome  recreation  in  the  county  and  to  aid  in  the  enforce- 
ment of  Laws  for  the  regulation  of  commercialized  amusements. 

(5)  To  furnish  information  to  and  cooperate  with  ail  officials  in  securing  the 
enforcement  of  the  laws  relating  to  children. 

(6)  To  act  as  the  agent  of  the  State  child  welfare  bureau  in  relation  to  any 
work  done  by  the  said  bureau  within  the  county. 

Sec.  6.  Within  thirty  days  after  their  appointment  the  members  of  the  county 
board  of  child  welfare  shall  meet  and  organize  by  electing  a  chairman,  who  shall 
serve  until  1  lie  first  meeting  of  the  board  in  January,  and  thereafter  the  chair- 
man shall  he  elected  annually  at  the  first  meeting  in  January. 

SEC.  7.  The  county  hoard  of  child  welfare  shall  meel  at  least  monthly  with 
the  county  superintendent  of  child  welfare,  who  shall  act  as  secretary  of  the 
board:  Provided,  That  in  comities  in  which  there  is  no  county  superintendent  of 
child  welfare  one  member  of  the  county  board  of  child  welfare  shall  be  desig- 


160  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

nated  to  serve  as  secretary.  The  county  hoard  of  child  welfare  shall  have 
general  oversight  and  supervision  of  all  of  the  work  of  the  county  superintendent 
of  child  welfare. 

Sec.  8.  The  county  board  of  child  welfare  shall  have  power  to  supervise,  regu- 
late, and  license  or  suppress  public  dance  halls,  pool  halls,  motion-picture  houses, 
traveling  shows,  and  all  forms  of  commercialized  amusements  in  the  county, 
outside  of  incorporated  cities  and  villages,  and  it  may  define  commercialized 
amusements  and  may  by  rule  establish  standards  for  such  amusements  and 
provide  a  process  for  issuing  and  revoking  licenses. 

Sec.  9.  The  county  board  of  child  welfare  shall  visit  at  least  annually,  and 
as  often  as  may  be  necessary,  all  reformatory,  correctional,  or  charitable  insti- 
tutions or  agencies  within  the  county  caring  for,  receiving,  or  handling  children. 
It  shall  report  annually  to  the  board  of  county  commissioners  or  other  officers 
having  jurisdiction  over  such  institutions,  and  shall  make  recommendations 
regarding  the  improvement  of  such  institutions  and  regardng  any  measures  to  be 
taken  for  the  relief  of  distress  or  the  protection  of  children  or  the  prevention  of 
pauperism.  It  shall  also  report  annually  to  the  State  child  welfare  bureau 
upon  such  blanks  and  in  such  form  as  the  bureau  shall  require. 

Sec.  10.  The  county  board  of  child  welfare  may  appoint  assistants  as  may  be 
necessary,  due  to  the  size  of  the  county  or  the  growth  of  the  work;  and  certain 
of  the  duties  of  the  county  superintendent  of  child  welfare  may  be  delegated 
to  the  assistants  of  the»county  superintendent  of  child  welfare.  Such  assistants 
shall  be  paid  such  salaries  as  shall  be  allowed  by  the  county  board  upon  recom- 
mendation of  the  county  board  of  child  welfare. 

Sec.  11.  In  counties  where  there  are  cities  which  already  have  a  local  board 
of  public  or  child  welfare,  or  which  may  wish  to  establish  such,  the  governing 
bodies  of  such  cities  may  make  arrangements  with  the  county  board  of  child 
welfare  to  consolidate  or  coordinate  the  work  as  may  be  mutually  agreed  upon 
with  such  division  of  expenses  as  may  be  equitable. 

BILL  SUGGESTED  BY  A  GROUP  REPRESENTING  THE 
NEW  YORK  STATE  CHARITIES  AID  ASSOCIATION, 
1922.3 

COUNTY  BOARDS  OF  CHILD  WELFARE. 

An  Act  To  define  certain  classes  of  children  eligible  for  public  care  and  protec- 
tion ;  to  provide  for  the  establishment  of  county  boards  of  child  welfare  and 
for  their  support  and  supervision ;  to  define  the  powers  and  duties  of  such 
boards ;  and  to  make  inapplicable  to  cases  arising  under  this  act  all  provisions 
of  law  inconsistent  with  this  act. 

The  people  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  senate  and  assembly,  do 

enact  as  follows: 

Sec.  l.  Definition  of  dependent,  defective,  neglected,  abandoned,  and  delin- 
quent children,  of  juvenile  delinquency,  and  of  family  free  and  hoarding 
homes. — A  dependent  child  is  a  child  actually  or  apparently  under  the  age  of 
16  years  who,  through  no  neglect  on  the  part  of  its  parents,  guardian,  or  person 
having  its  custody,  is  destitute  or  homeless,  or  in  a  state  of  want  or  suffering 
due  to  lack  of  sufficient  suitable  food,  clothing,  shelter,  supervision,  or  medical 
or  surgical  care. 

8  This  proposed  form  of  an  act  for  the  establishment  of  county  boards  of  child  welfare 
is  included  here  because  of  its  special  interest  as  the  product  of  much  study  and  experi- 
ence in  promoting  the  type  of  county  organization  recommended. 


LAWS   AND  BILLS.  161 

A  defective  child  is  a  child  under  the  age  of  16  years  who  is  blind ;  or  a 
deaf-mute ;  or  so  physically  crippled  or  deformed  as  to  make  advisable  special 
treatment  or  training;  or  insane;  or  epileptic;  or  feeble-minded  or  a  mental 
defective  as  defined  by  law,  or  an  imbecile  or  an  idiot. 

A  neglected  child  is  a  child  under  the  age  of  16  years  (1)  who  is  an  aban- 
doned child;  or  (2)  whose  parents  are  or  whose  parent  having  the  right  of 
guardianship,  is  by  reason  of  improvidence,  immorality,  depravity,  incompe- 
tency, mental  incapacity,  cruelty  or  grass  lack  of  interest  in  his  welfare,  unfit 
to  have  such  right,  whether  or  not  the  child  be  in  the  custody  of  such  parents 
or  parent;  or  (3)  whose  parents,  guardian,  or  lawful  custodian  fail  without 
good  reason  to  supply  him  with  the  necessaries  of  life  or  to  provide  for  his 
proper  care  and  training;  or  (4)  who  is  suffering  from  any  abnormal  physical 
or  mental  condition  requiring  treatment  or  training  in  a  hospital,  institution, 
or  elsewhere  and  whose  parents,  guardians,  or  lawful  custodian  refuse  or  fail 
to  provide  for  such  treatment  or  training;  or  (5)  who  wanders  about  any 
city,  town,  village,  or  elsewhere  without  proper  or  lawful  occupation;  or  (6) 
who  lives  with  or  innocently  frequents  the  company  of  vicious,  disreputable, 
immoral,  or  criminal  person  or  persons  whether  related  to  him  or  not;  or  (7) 
who  innocently  frequents  any  resort  of  questionable  character  or  any  place  to 
which  the  admittance  of  persons  of  his  age  is  prohibited,  either  with  or  without 
his  parent,  guardian,  or  custodian;  or  (8)  who,  without  committing  juvenile 
delinquency,  forms  associations  or  commits  acts  for  the  permitting  which  a 
parent,  guardian,  custodian,  or  other  person  may  be  punishable  by  law;  or 
(9)  who  is  employed,  shown,  or  used  in  any  task,  exhibition,  or  practice  for 
permitting  his  engagement  in  which  a  person  may  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor, 
or  who  is  disposed  of  or  trained  for  participation  in  any  such  task,  exhibition, 
or  practice;  or  (10)  who  is  in  a  situation  or  engages  in  an  occupation  where 
his  life  or  limb  is  endangered  or  his  health  is  likely  to  be  injured  or  his  morals 
are  likely  to  be  depraved. 

An  abandoned  child  is  a  child  under  the'  age  of  16  years  who  is  deserted  in 
any  place  by  both  parents  or  by  the  parent  having  his  custody ;  or  by  other 
person  charged  with  his  care,  and  left  (1)  in  destitute  circumstances;  or  (2) 
without  adequate  means  of  support;  or  (3)  without  reasonable  arrangements 
having  been  made  for  supplying  him  with  necessary  and  proper  food,  clothing, 
shelter,  education,  and  medical  care  until  he  shall  have  become  16  years  of  age; 
or  (4)  without  being  visited  or  having  payments  made  toward  his  support  by 
his  parent,  guardian,  or  lawful  custodian,  without  good  reason,  for  the  period 
of  one  year;  or  (5)  in  danger  of  becoming  a  burden  upon  the  public. 

A  delinquent  child  is  a  child  under  the  age  of  16  years  who  (1)  without  com- 
mitting a  felony  violates  any  law  or  any  local  ordinance;  or  (2)  commits  any 
offense  which,  if  committed  by  an  adult,  would  be  a  crime  not  punishable  by 
death  or  life  imprisonment;  or  (3)  engages  in  any  occupation  unlawfully; 
or  (4)  has  in  his  possession  any  dangerous  weapon  or  instrument  the  manu- 
facture or  sale  of  which,  or  the  disposal  of  which  to  such  child,  is  forbidden 
by  law;  or  (5)  deserts  his  home  without  good  and  sufficient  cause;  or  (6)  fceeps 
company  with  a  vicious,  immoral,  or  criminal  person  or  persons  againsl  tli" 
commands  of  his  parents,  guardians,  or  custodian:  or  (7)  is  not  susceptible  of 
proper  restraint  or  control  by  his  parents,  guardian,  or  custodian,  or  by  the 
l  uli  lie  •♦officer  or  board  responsible  for  bis  care,  and  habitually  disobeys  their 
reasonable  and  lawful  commands;  or  (8)  habitually  uses  profane  or  indecenl 
language;  or  (9)  gambles  or  knowingly  enters  any  place  where  gambling  is 
permitted  or  where  his  presence  is  in  violation  of  law;  or  (10)  habitually  uses 
tobacco,  intoxicating  liquor,  injurious  or  narcotic  drugs,  or  other  substance 


162  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   CARE. 

likely  to  interfere  with  his  normal  growth  and  development;  or  (11)  so  deport3 
himself  as  to  endanger  the  morals,  health,  or  general  welfare  of  himself  or  of 
others. 

Juvenile  delinquency  is  the  commitment  by  a  child  under  the  age  of  16  years 
of  any  of  the  offenses  enumerated  in  the  foregoing  definition  of  a  delinquent 
child. 

A  family  free  home  is  the  home  of  a  private  family  or  individual  wherein  a 
child,  not  a  relative  of  or  within  tlie  third  degree,  is  placed  for  its  maintenance 
and  nurture  without  the  payment  to  such  family  or  individual  of  any  considera- 
tion therefor.  The  words  "relatives  of  or  within  the  third  degree"  shall,  for 
the  purposes  of  this  act,  mean  parents  and  children,  grandparents,  grandchil- 
dren, brothers,  sisters,  uncles,  aunts,  nephews,  and  nieces. 

A  family  boarding  home  is  the  home  of  a  private  family  or  individual  in 
which  there  reside  not  more  than  five  children  not  related  to  such  family  or 
individual,  placed  therein  for  maintenance  and  nurture  in  return  for  a  con- 
sideration periodically  paid  to  such  family  or  individual  therefor. 

The  words  "  the  board  "  when  used  in  this  act  shall  mean  the  county  board 
of  child  welfare  whose  establishment  is  hereby  authorized.  The  words  "  child  " 
or  "  children  "  when  used  in  this  act,  unless  otherwise  indicated,  shall  mean, 
respectively,  a  person  or  persons  under  the  age  of  16  years. 

Sec.  2.  Establishment  of  county  board  of  child  welfare. — The  board  of  super- 
visors of  any  county  outside  of  the  city  of  New  York  may,  by  a  majority  vote 
of  its  members,  establish  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  a  county  board  of 
child  welfare,  which  shall  have  the  powers  and  duties  hereinafter  specified  in 
respect  to  children  dependent  for  support  upon  public  funds  or  in  need  of  public 
care  or  protection:  Provided,  however,  That  in  any  city  of  the  first  or  second 
class  situated  within  such  county  the  mayor  and  common  council  thereof  may 
jointly  determine  that  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  administered  in  such 
city  by  a  municipal  agency  instead  of  by  the  county  board  of  child  welfare,  and 
in  the  event  of  such  determination  the  county  board  herein  provided  for  shall 
have  no  authority  within  such  city  except  in  the  case  of  children  whose  care  is 
chargeable  to  the  county,  and  the  powers  and  duties  herein  conferred  upon  the 
county  board  shall  be  exercised  and  discharged  within  such  city  by  the  munici- 
pal agency  designated  for  such  service  by  the  mayor  and  common  council. 

Sec.  3.  Members  of  the  board. — The  county  boai'd  of  child  welfare  shall  con- 
sist of  seven  members,  of  whom  the  county  official  charged  with  the  relief  of 
the  poor  and  either  the  chairman  of  the  board  of  supervisors  or  other  member 
thereof  as  may  be  designated  by  the  board  of  supervisors,  shall  be  ex  officio 
members.  If  any  county  has  more  than  one  superintendent  of  the  pool',  the 
county  judge  shall  designate  the  superintendent  who  shall  serve  as  a  member 
of  the  board.  The  five  other  members,  at  least  two  of  whom  shall  be  women, 
shall  be  residents  of  the  county  and  shall  be  appointed  by  the  county  judge, 
one  for  one  year,  two  for  two  years,  two  for  three  years.  Such  designation 
shall  be  in  writing  and  shall  be  filed  with  the  county  clerk.  The  first  appoint- 
ments shall  be  made  within  30  days  after  the  board  of  supervisors  has  officially 
notified  the  county  judge  that  it  has  established  the  board.  Immediately  upon 
the  expiration  of  the  term  of  office  of  any  appointive  member  his  successor 
shall  be  appointed  by  the  county  judge  for  a  full  term  of  three  years.  In  case 
of  the  failure  of  an  appointive  member  to  attend  at  least  one  meeting  during 
a  period  of  three  months,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  secretary  of  the  board  at 
once  to  certify  such  fact  to  the  county  judge.  Unless  the  county  judge  shall, 
in  writing  addressed  to  the  board  within  30  days  after  receipt  of  such  notice, 
excuse  such  absence  for  illness  or  other  sufficient  reason,  the  term  of  office  of 


LAWS   AND   BILLS.  163 

the  member  shall  terminate  at  the  end  of  such  period.  Such  excuse  shall  be 
filed  with  and  made  part  of  the  records  of  the  board.  If  a  vacancy  among  the 
appointive  members  occur  otherwise  than  by  expiration  of  term,  it  shall  within 
30  days  be  filled  by  the  county  judge  for  the  unexpired  term. 

Sec.  4.  Removal  of  member*. — Members  of  the  board  shall  be  subject  to 
removal  by  the  county  judge  or  by  the  State  board  of  charities  for  reasons  stated 
in  writing  and  after  having  been  given  an  opportunity  to  be  heard. 

Sec.  5.  Expenses  of  members. — The  members  of  the  board  shall  receive  no 
compensation  for  their  services  as  members  thereof,  but  shall  be  entitled  to 
reimbursement  for  the  actual  and  necessary  expense  incurred  by  them  in  dis- 
charging their  duties  under  this  act. 

Sec.  6.  Organization— Officer*  and  employees — Rules  and  regulations — Reports 
and  estimates. — The  county  board  of  child  welfare  shall  (a)  meet  within  1<> 
days  after  appointment  at  the  time  and  place  designated  by  the  county  judge, 
organize,  and  fix  the  time  of  its  regular  meetings  which  shall  be  held  at  least 
monthly;  (Z>)  elect  a  chairman  and  a  vice  chairman  from  among  its  members, 
who  shall  hold  office  for  one  year  or  until  their  successors  are  elected;  (e) 
establish  an  office;  (d)  make  rules  and  regulations  for  the  conduct  of  its 
business;  and  duly  enter  upon  the  minutes  of  each  meeting  all  action  taken 
thereat.  Four  or  more  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum  for  the  transaction 
of  business;  (e)  appoint  as  secretary  a  person  certified  as  qualified  by  the 
State  civil  service  commission,  who  shall  be  the  executive  officer  of  the  board 
and  who  shall  perform  under  its  general  supervision  the  functions  necessary 
for  carrying  out  the  purposes  of  this  act.  Such  secretary  may  be  removed 
by  the  board  of  child  welfare  or  by  the  State  board  of  charities  for  reasons 
stated  in  writing  and  after  having  been  given  an  opportunity  to  be  heard;  (f) 
authorize  the  appointment  by  the  secretary  of  such  number  of  assistants  and 
other  employees  as  it  may  deem  necessary  for  carrying  out  the  purposes  of 
this  act;  and  their  compensations,  together  with  that  of  the  secretary,  shall 
be  within  the  limits  of  the  appropriation  made  therefor  by  the  board  of  super- 
visors. Such  assistants  and  other  employees  may  be  removed  by  the  secretary 
with  the  approval  of  the  board;  (g)  as  soon  as  it  is  ready  to  function,  notify 
in  writing  the  county  treasurer,  all  officials  within  the  county  charged  with  the 
care  and  relief  of  the  poor,  the  local  board  of  child  welfare  establisborl  by 
article  7a  of  chapter  228  of  the  laws  of  New  York,  1Q15,  and  all  courts  in  tins 
county  authorized  to  hear  children's  cases,  that  it  is  organized  and  prepared  to 
exercise  its  powers  and  to  perform  its  duties  under  this  act;  and  give  public 
notice  to  this  effect;  (ft)  render  to  the  board  of  supervisors  at  such  times  as  it 
may  require,  a  verified  account  of  all  moneys  received  and  expended  hy  it  or 
under  its  direction;  (i)  submit  annually  to  the  proper  fiscal  authorities  of  the 
county  an  estimate  of  the  funds  required  to  carry  out  the  purposes  of  this  act, 
such  estimate  to  be  furnished  at  such  time  before  its  annual  meeting  for  ap- 
propriating moneys  and  levying  taxes  as  may  be  specified  by  the  board  of  super- 
visors; (?)  submit  annually  to  the  board  of  supervisors  a  report  of  its  work 
during  the  year. 

Sec. 7.  General  responsibilities  of  the  hoard.— The  board  shall  be  responsible, 
as  hereinafter  provided,  for  the  welfare  of  children  within  the  county  in  need 
of  public  care,  support,  or  protection.  It  shall  administer  public  aid  to  de- 
pendent children  living  with  their  mothers  in  their  own  bonus,  as  hereinafter 
provided.  It  shall  be  responsible  for  the  control,  relief,  and  care  of  children 
received  by  it  as  public  charges  or  committed  to  it  by  courts  or  magistrates; 
and  shall  administer  such  control,  relief,  and  care  either  directly  or  through 
child-caring   societies    or    institutions    which    are   duly    incorporated    and    ap- 


164  COUNTY    ORGANIZATION    FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

proved  for  such  service  by  11)*'  State  Board  of  Charities.  The  responsibility  of 
the  board  for  children  so  received  or  committed  shall  continue  during  their 
minority  or,  until  they  are  discharged  to  their  own  parents,  to  relatives  of  or 
within  the  third  degree,  or  to  guardians,  or  are  adopted  by  foster  parents,  or, 
in  the  case  of  delinquent  children,  are  returned  by  it  to  the  court  by  which  they 
were  committed. 

Sec.  8.  Powers  and  duties  of  the  board. — The  county  board  of  child  welfare 
(a)  shall  investigate  the  family  conditions  and  circumstances  of  children 
alleged  to  be  in  need  of  public  care  or  protection,  in  order  to  ascertain  what 
care,  supervision,  treatment,  or  other  attention,  if  any,  they  require;  (6)  may 
administer  and  supervise  such  relief  for  a  dependent  child  as  the  board  deems 
necessary  to  enable  it  to  remain  in  its  own  home  with  its  mother,  when  such 
mother  is- physically,  mentally,  or  morally  fit  to  care  for  such  child,  and  is 
entitled  to  relief  as  a  poor  person :  Provided,  however,  That  nothing  in  this 
section  shall  be  interpreted  as  limiting  the  power  or  duty  of  any  poor  law  official 
to  administer  relief  to  persons  eligible  therefor,  in  their  own  homes  who  are 
not  beneficiaries  under  the  provisions  of  this  paragraph;  (c)  shall  assume 
charge  of  and  provide  support  for  all  dependent  children  for  whom  it  is  not 
possible,  in  the  opinion  of  the  board,  to  provide  proper  care  in  their  own  homes 
and  who  are  legally  entitled  to  public  support  in  said  county;  (d)  shall  receive, 
when  committed  to  it,  anx  child  adjudged  by  a  court  or  magistrate  of  competent 
jursdiction  to  be  a  neglected  child ;  and  such  court  or  magistrate  shall  have 
power  to  commit  such  child  to  the  board;  (e)  shall  receive  any  child  adjudged 
by  a  court  or  magistrate  of  competent  jurisdiction  to  be  a  delinquent  child,  when 
such  child  is  committed  to  it  by  such  court  or  magistrate ;  and  such  court  or 
magistrate  shall  have  power  to  commit  such  child  to  the  board;  (f)  shall  re- 
port to  the  appropriate  State  agency  the  presence  of  every  defective  child  known 
to  be  in  the  county.  When  in  the  opinion  of  the  board  the  welfare  of  any  such 
child  requires  it.  the  board  snail  take  steps  in  accordance  with  the  provisions 
of  law  to  obtain  his  admittance  to  some  State  or  other  suitable  school,  hospital 
or  other  institution  if  he  is  in  need  of  institutional  care;  or  to  obtain  treatment 
and  care  in  hi*  own  home  or  elsewhere  for  him  if  not  in  need  of  institutional 
care,  or  if  institutional  care  cannot  be  obtained;  (r/)  shall  reinvestigate,  at 
least  once  every  year,  the  circumstances  of  the  parents  or  of  the  person  having 
tr.o  right  of  guardianship  of  each  child  who  is  in  the  care  of  the  board  outside 
its  own  home,  and  if  advisable  inquire  into  the  willingness  of  relatives  to  care 
for  it ;  and  reinvestigate,  at  least  once  every  six  months,  the  family  conditions 
and  circumstances  of  each  child  who  is  left  in  its  own  home  under  the  care  or 
supervision  of  the  board;  (h)  shall,  on  order  of  court  or  magistrate,  collect 
from  parents  or  guardians  whose  children  have  been  committed  to  the  board  by 
such  court  or  magistrate,  such  sums  as  the  parents  or  guardians  are  ordered  to 
pay  :  and  in  the  case  of  any  children  who  are  in  the  care  of  the  board,  collect 
or,  if  necessary,  bring  proceedings  against  their  parents  or  guardians  to  collect, 
such  sums  for  the  support,  care,  examination,  or  treatment  of  such  children 
as  their  parents  or  guardians  are  able  to  pay  or  as  the  court  shall  order; 
(i)  shall  provide  for  mental  or  physical  examination  of  any  child  under  its 
care  or  supervision  whom  the  board  has  reason  to  suspect  of  mental  or  physical 
defect  or  disease,  such  examination  to  be  paid  for  when  necessary  from  moneys 
appropriated  for  the  use  of  the  board;  (i)  shall  provide  for  necessary  medical 
or  surgical  treatment  in  its  own  home  or  in  a  hospital,  institution,  or  other 
suitable  place,  for  any  child  under  the  care  or  supervision  of  the  board,  such 
treatment  to  be  paid  for  when  necessary  from  moneys  appropriated  for  the  use 
of  the  board  ;   (7c)  may  place  any  child  who  is  in  its  care  in  a  family  boarding 


LAWS    AND   BILLS.  165 

home,  or  in  a  family  free  home,  or  in  an  institution  or  in  its  own  home  subject 
to  the  supervision  of  the  board,  according  to  the  needs  of  the  child,  such  board- 
ing or  free  home  or  such  institution  to  be  governed  by  persons  of  the  religions 
faith  of  the  child  whenever  practicable.  Placements  in  family  homes  may  be 
made  either  directly  or  through  child-caring  societies  or  institutions  duly  in- 
corporated and  approved  for  such  services  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities; 
(I)  may  transfer  from  one  place  to  another  any  child  in  its  care;  (nv)  may 
discharge  to  parents,  relatives  of  or  within  the  third  degree,  or  guardians,  any 
child  in  its  care,  when  such  discharge  seems  to  the  board  to  be  for  the  welfare 
of  the  child;  (n)  may  institute  proceedings  in  a  court  of  competent  jurisdiction 
to  have  a  child  declared  to  be  an  abandoned  child,  or  a  neglected  child  whenever 
in  its  opinion  such  action  would  be  for  the  child's  best  interests:  Provided,  how- 
ever, that  nothing  in  this  act  shall  be  construed  as  impairing  the  powers  hereto- 
fore conferred  by  law  upon  any  incorporated  humane  society  or  society  for  the 
prevention  of  cruelty  to  children  ;  (o)  may  investigate  the  alleged  neglect  or 
■abuse  of  an  apparently  neglected  child,  and  when  necessary  institute  proceed- 
ings in  a  court  of  competent  jurisdiction  against  a  parent  or  other  adult  for  any 
offense  committed  against  such  child;  (/))  may  institute  proceedings  in  a  court 
of  competent  jurisdiction  to  have  a  guardian  appointed  for  any  child  for  whose 
care  it  is  responsible  and  whose  interests  in  its  opinion  would  be  promoted  by 
such  action;  (q)  shall  act  as  guardian  of  the  person,  or  of  the  person  and 
property,  of  any  child  for  whose  care  it  is  responsible  when  so  appointed  by  a 
court  authorized  by  law  to  appoint  guardians  for  minors ;  and  any  such  court 
shall  have  the  power  to  appoint  the  board  of  child  welfare  as  guardian  of  a 
child  ;  (r)  shall  give  or  withhold  its  consent  to  the  adoption  of  any  child  cared 
for  by  the  board  as  a  public  charge  apart  from  its  own  family ;  and  such  consent 
shall  be  necessary  to  such  adoption;  (*1  shall  exercise  supervision  over  all 
neglected  and  delinquent  children  committed  hy  any  court  or  magistrate  within 
the  county  to  any  institution  under  private  management,  and  may.  with  the 
approval  of  such  court  or  magistrate,  make  such  provision  for  the  care  of  any 
such  children  as  the  board  is  herein  empowered  to  make  in  Hie  case  of  children 
committed  to  its  care. 

Sec.  9.  State  supervision  of  hoard. — The  board  of  child  welfare  shall  be 
subject  to  the  general  supervision  and  to  the  rules  "and  regulations  «f  the 
State  board  of  charities  and  shall  make  to  the  State  board  of  charities  su<* 
reports  and  shall  keep  such  records  and  use  such  forms  as  it  may  require. 
The  State  board  of  charities  shall  have  power  to  investigate  the  work  of 
the  board  of  child  welfare  and  to  make  such  orders  concerning  such  work  as 
it  may  deem  just  and  equitable;  and  such  orders  shall  be  complied  with  by  the 
county  board  of  child  welfare.  The  State  board  of  charities  may  visit  children 
for  whose  care  the  board  of  child  welfare  is  responsible,  and  may  order  such 
board  to  remove  any  child  found  to  be  unsuitably  cared  for,  and  such  order  shall 
be  complied  with  by  such  board  within  10  days  of  its  issuance. 

Sec.  10.  Contract*  with  private  agencies. — The  board  of  child  welfare  may 
enter  into  contracts  with  child-caring  institutions,  associations,  or  societies 
duly  incorporated  and  approved  for  such  service  by  the  State  board  of  chari- 
ties to  receive  and  care  for  children  entrusted  to  them  by  said  board:  and  the 
bills  presented  by  such  institutions,  associations,  or  societies  for  such  service, 
in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  such  contracts,  shall  bo  paid  by  the  county 
treasurer  when  approved  by  the  board  of  child  welfare  and  audited  as  in  the 
case  of  other  bills  against  the  county. 

Sec  11.  Appropriation  and  determination  of  charges. — The  board  of  super- 
visors shall  annually  appropriate  and  make  available  for  the  board  of  child 
welfare  such  sum  as  such  board  of  supervisors  may  deem  necessary   for  car- 


1G6  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD   OABE. 

eying  out  the  provisions  of  Uiis  act,  and  shall  include  the  sum  so  appropriated.] 
in  fixing  the  tax  levy  for  the  county.  Should  the  sum  so  appropriated  be 
exhausted  during  tin-  year  by  reason  of  unanticipated  conditions,  the  hoard  of 
supervisors  may  appropriate  such  additional  sums  as  in  its  judgment  may  be 
necessary  to  meet  such  conditions,  and  such  additional  appropriations  shall 
be  paid  from  available  funds  in  the  county  treasury;  but  should  there  he  no 
funds  available  therefor,  the  county  treasurer  shall,  •upon  order  of  the  hoard 
of  supervisors,  borrow  a  sufficient  sum  to  pay  such  appropriation  in  anticipa- 
tion of  taxes  to  be  collected.  No  hoard  of  child  welfare  shall  -expend  or 
contract  to  expend  any  public  moneys  not  specifically  appropriated  as  herein 
provided. 

The  hoard  of  supervisors  of  any  county  may  determine,  as  provided  in  sec- 
tion 138  of  the  poor  law,  whether  the  actual  expenses  for  the  relief  of  de- 
pendent and  neglected  children  under  this  act  shall  be  a  charge  upon  the 
county  or  upon  the  respective  towns  or  cities  thereof.  Delinquent  children 
committed  to  the  board  by  any  court  or  magistrate  shall  be  charged  upon  the 
county. 

Sec.  12.  Fraud  and  misapplication  of  funds. — A  person  who  shall  procure  or 
attempt  to  procure  directly  or  indirectly  any  allowance  for  relief  or  other 
benefit  under  this  act  for  or  on  account  of  a  person  not  entitled  thereto,  or 
who  shall  knowingly  or  willfully  pay  or  permit  to  be  paid  any  relief  or  other 
benefit  to  a  person  not  entitled  thereto  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor. 

Sec.  13.  Transfer  of  funds. — As  soon  as  the  board  shall  notify  the  county 
treasurer  in  writing  that  it  is  organized  he  shall  transfer  to  an  account  subject 
to  its  order  all  unexpended  balances  of  any  moneys  theretofore  appropriated  for 
the  fiscal  year  then  current  by  the  board  of  supervisors  for  the  care  of  depend- 
ent, neglected,  and  delinquent  children,  or  for  the  relief  of  mothers  with  chil- 
dren ;  and  such  moneys  so  transferred  shall  be  used  by  the  board  for  the  pur- 
pose for  which  they  were  appropriated. 

Sec.  14.  Transfer  of  ppeters  and  duties. — Upon  the  establishment  of  the  board 
and  the  giving  of  public  notice  by  it  that  it  is  organized  and  prepared  to  exercise 
its  powers  and  *<*  discharge  its  duties,  all  the  powers  and  duties  in  relation  to 
children  u»<*er  1G  years  of  age  theretofore  vested  in  the  county  superintendent 
of  the  poor,  in  any  county  official  by  whatever  title  known  who  is  charged  with 
the  relief  of  the  poor  of  the  county,  in  town  overseers  of  the  poor,  or  in  the  city 
commissioner  of  charities  or  other  official  or  agency  performing  like  duties,  if 
any  there  be,  of  any  city  subject  to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall  thereupon  be 
vested  solely  in  the  board  of  child  welfare  established  under  the  provisions  of 
this  act.  As  soon  as  the  board  shall  in  writing  inform  the  public  officials  named 
above  in  this  section  that  it  is  organized  and  prepared  to  exercise  its  powers  and 
to  discharge  its  duties,  such  officials  shall  thereupon  deliver  to  such  County 
Board  of  Child  AVelfare  records  of  children  under  their  care.  As  soon  as  the 
board  shall  officially  inform  any  board  of  child  welfare  existing  in  the  county, 
established  either  by  article  7a  of  chapter  228  of  the  laws  of  New  York,  1913, 
or  by  any  special  act  of  the  legislature,  that  it  is  organized  and  prepared  to  exer- 
cise its  powers  and  to  discharge  its  duties,  such  board  so  established  shall  at 
once  transfer  all  moneys,  books,  papers,  property  and  other  belongings  in  its 
possession  to  the  county  board  of  child  welfare  established  under  this  act,  and 
shall  thereupon  cease  to  exist;  and  the  act  creating  such  board  or  under  which 
such  board  performed  its  functions  shall  be  superseded  by  the  provision  of 
this  act. 


LAWS   AND   BILLS.  167 

Upon  the  giving  of  public  notice  by  the  board  that  it  has  begun  to  exercise 
the  powers  and  to  discharge  the  duties  vested  in  it  by  this  act,  all  children  then 
in  private  institutions  or  family  homes,  through  commitment  or  placement  by 
any  poor  law  official,  court,  or  magistrate  or  other  public  authority  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  board,  except  children  who  have  been  committed  as  juvenile 
delinquents,  shall  have  the  status  of  children  accepted  by  or  committed  to  the 
board. 

Sec.  15.  All  acts  or  parts  of  acts  inconsistent  with  or  repugnanl  to  this  ad 
or  any  provision  thereof  shall  be  held  inapplicable  to  any  case  arising  under  this 
act.  This  act  shall  be  construed  liberally,  and  its  purpose  shall  be  the  conserva- 
tion and  development  of  the  child. 

Sec.  16.  This  act  shall  take  effect  on  the  first  day  of  September,  1922. 


APPENDIX  B. 

LIST  OF  REFERENCES  ON  COUNTY  ORGANIZATIONS  FOR 
CHILD  WELFARE  OR  PUBLIC  WELFARE. 

Alabama. 

Alabama  Childhood:  The  official  bulletin  of  the  State  Child  Welfare  De- 
partment of  Alabama,  April-May-June  number,  1921.  "County  organiza- 
tion," pp.  28-33,  35-36.    Montgomery. 

California. 

County  Outdoor  Relief  in  California,  published  by  tbe  State  Board  of 
Charities  and  Corrections.  "  Counties  using  constructive  methods  in 
outdoor  relief  administration,"  pp.  24—31.     Sacramento,  1918. 

State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections.  Eighth  Biennial  Report,  July 
1,  1916-June  30,  1918.  "  The  county  welfare  boards  and  the  outdoor  care 
of  dependents,"  pp.  72-80.     Sacramento. 

Ninth  Biennial  Report,   July   1,   191S-June  30,   1920.      "Report  of 

the  county  committee,"  pp.  120-134.    Sacramento. 

Indiana. 

Board  of  State  Charities  of  Indiana.  Twenty -ninth  Annual  Report,  for  the 
Fiscal  Year  Ending  September  30,  1918.  "  Boards  of  children's  guard- 
ians," p.  136.    Indianapolis. 

— -Thirty-first  Annual  Report,  for  the  Fiscal  Year  Ending  September 

30,  1920.  "Placement  of  children  by  orphans'  homes  and  boards  of 
guardians,"  pp.  192-194. 

Indiana  Bulletin  of  Charities  and  Correction.  Proceedings  of  the  Twenty- 
seventh  State  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  1918.  "  Board  of 
children's  guardians,"  pp.  55-56.     Indianapolis,  March,  1919. 

"  The  board  of  children's  guardians,"  by  Donald  Du  Shane,  pp.  222- 

224.    June,  1919. 

Kansas. 

Kansas   Children's   Code   Commission.      Report,    January,    1921.    "  County 

departments  of  public  welfare,"  p.  10.    Topeka. 
Public  Welfare  (organ  of  the  National  Welfare  League,  Kansas  City.  Mo.), 

July,  1920.     "Progress  of  the  county  welfare  campaign  in  Kansas,"  pp. 

597-599. 

Minnesota. 

Minnesota  Child  Welfare  Commission.  Report,  1917,  pp.  10-11,  17,  23-24. 
St.  Paul. 

First  State  Conference  of  Child  Welfare  Boards  with  the  Board  of  Control, 
May.  1919.  Proceedings  (Special  edition,  Quarterly  Conference  Bulletin 
of  the  Executive  Officers  of  State  Institutions  and  the  State  Board  of 
Control).  Papers  and  discussions  on  the  functions  of  stale  agencies  and 
institutions  and  child-welfare  conditions,  pp.  3-107 ;  "  What  is  expected 
of  our  child  welfare  board?"  by  Otto  W.  Davis,  pp.  108-11".;  ••Sympo- 
sium on  work  of  child  welfare  boards"  (Ramsey,  Hennepin,  ami  St. 
Louis  Counties),  pp.  116-119.  St.  Paul. 
111532°— 22 12  169 


170  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION    FOR    CHILD    CARE. 

Minnesota — Continued. 

Quarterly  Representing  the  Minnesota  Educational,  Philanthropic,  Cor- 
rectional, and  renal  Institutions  under  the  State.  Board  of  Control, 
August,  1917.  "The  new  child-welfare  laws — their  relation  to  the  State 
Board  of  Control,"  by  Charles  E.  Vasaly,  pp.  4-17.    St.  Paul. 

State  Conference  of  Social  Work.  Proceedings,  Twenty-eighth  Annual  Ses- 
sion, 11)20  (Special  edition,  Quarterly  Conference  Bulletin  of  the  Hxecu- 
tive  Officers  of  State  Institutions  and  the  State  Board  of  Control). 
"  Publicity  for  child-welfare  work,"  by  E.  C.  Garrigues,  pp.  86-90;  "Dis- 
cussion of  child  welfare  hoard  problems,"  pp.  91  94;  "Cooperation  of 
child  welfare  hoards  with  educational  forces,"  by  Mrs.  S.  D,  Brown,  pp. 
109-111.     St.  Paul. 

State  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction.  Proceedings,  Twenty-sixth 
Conference,  1917  (Special  edition  of  the  Quarterly  Bulletin,  State  Board 
of  Control,  August  5,  1918).  "Why  each  county  should  have  a  child 
welfare  board,"  by  Charles  E.  Vasaly,  pp.  99-104;  "How  can  juvenile 
court  make  use  of  county  child  welfare  boards'.'"  pp.  182-191.     St.  Paul. 

■ .      Proceedings,   Twenty-seventh  Annual   Session,   1919    (Special   edition, 

Quarterly  Conference  Bulletin  of  the  Executive  Officers  of  State  Insti- 
tutions and  the  State  Board  of  Control).  "County  child-welfare  work," 
pp.  155-162.     St.  Paul. 

Children's  Bureau,  State  Board  of  Control.     Report,  191S.     "  Child  welfare 
boards,"  p.  15.     St.  Paul. 
Directory  of  County  Child  Welfare  Boards,  County  Nurses,  and  Proba- 
tion Officers  in  Minnesota,  1921.     St.  Paul. 

Hennepin  County  Child-Welfare  Board.     Annual  Reports.     Minneapolis. 

Ramsey  County  Child-Welfare  Board.     Annual  Reports.     St.  Paul. 

St.  Louis  County  Child-Welfare  Board.     Annual  Reports.     Duluth. 

Missouri. 

Children's  Code  Commission.  Report.  A  complete  revision  of  the  laws  for 
the  welfare  of  Missouri  children.  Second  edition,  January,  1917.  "  Meth- 
ods of  administration  proposed  in  the  Children's  Code,"  pp.  20-24,  28; 
"  County  boards  of  public  welfare,"  pp.  99-111.  Jefferson  City. 
Report,  1918.  "Appointment  of  county  superintendent  of  public  wel- 
fare," pp.  35,  111-116 ;  "  County  boards  of  public  welfare,"  pp.  34,  36, 
116-118.  Jefferson  City. 
State  Board  of  Charities  and  Corrections.  Monthly  Bulletin.  Jefferson 
City. 

December,  1920.     "  Bills  presented  by  Children's  Code  Commission  to 

the  General  Assembly  of  1921,"  pp.  14-19. 
February,  1921.  Outlines  of  Children's  Code  Bills  Passed  by  the  Fifty- 
first  General  Assembly.  "  County  superintendent  of  public  wel- 
fare," p.  8. 
April,  1921.  Public  Welfare  Projects  for  Counties  of  Missouri ;  neces- 
sary steps  to  make  effective  our  social  legislation.  "Act  to  authorize 
appointment  of  county  superintendents  of  public  welfare,"  pp.  13-15. 

Nebraska. 

Nebraska  Children's  Code  Commission.  Report,  1920.  "  County  Boards  of 
Child  Welfare,"  pp.  55-57,  230-234.  Department  of  Public  Welfare, 
Lincoln. 


REFERENCES.  171 

New  Jersey. 

Monmouth  County  Branch  of  the  State  Charities  Aid  and  Prison  Reform 
Association  of  New  Jersey.  Constitution,  adopted  June  25,  1912.  Red- 
bank. 

First  Report.  1912-1915. 

Second  Report.  July  1.  1915-July  1,  1916. 

New  Jersey  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction.  Proceedings,  Six- 
teenth Annual  Meeting,  1917.  "  Report  of  Monmouth  County  work," 
by  Miss  G.  L.  Button,  pp.  53-56. 

New  York. 

National  Conference  of  Social  Work.  Proceedings,  1918.  "  The  county  as 
a  unit  in  charity  administration;  actual  experience."  by  H.  Ida  Curry, 
pp.  241-244. 

Proceedings,    1919.     "Child-welfare   work   in    a    rural    community 

[Rockland  County],"  by  Gladys  Mendum.  pp.  20-26;  "Child  Welfare  in 
Westchester  County."  by  Ruth  Taylor,  pp.  36-41. 

New  York  State  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction.  Proceedings. 
16th  Annual  Meeting,  1915.  "The  problems  of  Westchester  County  and 
how  a  public  agency  is  meeting  them,"  by  Ruth  Taylor,  pp.  132-143. 

Proceedings.  Seventeenth  Conference,  1916.  "An  adequate  sys- 
tem for  the  care  of  destitute,  neglected,  and  delinquent  children  in  a 
community."  by  Judge  C.  W.  H.  Arnold,  pp.  109-122;  Discussion  by 
H.  Ida  Curry,  pp.  122-125. 

State  Charities  Aid  Association.  New  York  City.  Annual  Reports.  1917- 
1919.  "Subcommittee  on  county  agencies  for  dependent  children": 
1917,  pp.  40-43;  1918,  pp.  75-80;  1919,  pp.  17-21. 

A    Survey   of   Child    Welfare    Progress    in    New    York    State.      (A 

paper  presented   by  H.   Ida   Curry  at  the   Forty-seventh   Convention   of 
the  New  York  State  Superintendents  of  the  Poor,  June  28,  1917.)     12  pp. 

Community  Plan  in  Children's  Work  for  the  Counties  in  New  York 


State.     8  pp. 
Dependent    Children    in    the    Stnte    of  New   York,    and    What    the 


State   Charities   Aid    Association    is   Doing   for   Them     (Revised    Oct.    1. 
1916).     "County  agencies  for  dependent  children."  pp.  35-47. 
County  Agencies  for  Dependent  Children.     4  pp. 

Is  Your  County  Building  or  Patching  Children's  Lives?     8  pp. 

Making  the  State  Safe  for  Childhood.     7  pp. 

The    County    Agent    for    Dependent    Children,    by    Mabel    Eastern. 


8  pp. 

State  Charities  Aid  Association  News.  September,  1917.  "  The  county 
agent  for  dependent  children,"  p.  9. 

Dutchess  County  Board  of  Child  Welfare.  Reports.  1917  and  1918. 
Poughkeepsie. 

Westchester  County.  First  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Char- 
ities and  corrections,  1917.  "The  Department  of  Child  Welfare,"  bj 
Ruth  Taylor,  pp.  119-176.     White  Plains. 

Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Charities  and  Cor- 
rections, 1918.  "Report  of  the  Department  of  Child  Welfare."  by 
Ruth  Taylor,  pp.  81-108.     White  Plains. 

Report  of  the  Children's  Department,   November  1,  1915-December 

31,  1916,  by  Ruth  Taylor.     36  pp.     White  Plains. 


172  COUNTY   ORGANIZATION   FOR   CHILD    CARE. 

New  York — Continued. 

Westchester    County.      Report   of   the    Superintendent   of   Poor   for    Year 

Ending  October  31,  1915.     "  Children's  Department,"  pp.  40-56.     White 

Plains. 
"  Westchester :  What  an  American  county  can  do,"  by  Winthrop  D.  Lane, 

in  the  Survey,  November  22,  1919,  pp.  140-143. 
"  Westchester:  What  an  American  county  can  do  in  organized  social  work," 

in  Public  Welfare,  July,  1920,  pp.  600-603. 

North  Carolina. 

North  Carolina's  Child  Welfare  Program  for  the  Care  and  Protection  of 
Dependent,  Neglected,  and  Delinquent  Children,  through  Superintendents 
of  Public  Welfare,  Juvenile  Courts,  and  Child-Caring  Institutions. 
"  County  unit  of  public  welfare,"  pp.  7-11.  Issued  by  the  State  Board  of 
Charities  and  Public  Welfare,  Raleigh,  1921. 
State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Welfare.     Bulletin.     Raleigh. 

January-March,  1918.     "A  general  statement  of  the  duties  of  a  county 

superintendent  of  Public  Welfare,"  pp.  3-4. 
April-June,  1918.     "  County  responsibility  for  public  welfare,"  by  E.  C. 

Branson,  pp.  7-12. 
January-April,  1919.     "  County  boards  of  charities  and  public  welfare 

and  county  superintendents,"  pp.  3-7. 
April- June,    1919.     "  Year's   work   done  by   county   superintendent   of 
public  welfare  in  Forsyth,"  by  A.  S.  Macfarlane,  pp.  5-7 ;  "  Develop- 
ment of  work  in  city  and  county  of  Durham,"  by  H.  A.  Forrester,  p.  8. 
July-September,   1919.     "  Letter  to   county   superintendents  of  public 
welfare,"  by  Mrs.  Clarence  A.  Johnson,  p.  18;  "The  work  of  the 
county  superintendent  of  pubic  welfare,"  p.  15. 
October-December,  1919.     "  The  duties  of  the  county  superintendent," 
pp.  3-4 ;  "  The  county  board  of  public  welfare,  records,  and  reports," 
pp.  5-6;  "A  county  superintendent's  work  in  school  attendance,"  by 
D.  R.  Parker,  pp.  19-23. 
January-March,  1920.     "  County  boards  of  charities  and  public  wel- 
fare; the  county  superintendent  of  public  welfare,"  pp.  5-7. 
April-June,  1920.     "  Public  welfare,  by  R.  F.  Beasley,  pp.  23-27. 
October-December,    1920.     Biennial   report   to    the    legislature,    1919- 
1920,  pp.  6-8,  10-12,  19,  21. 
Program  of  Work  for  County  Superintendents  of  Public  Welfare  Including 
Instructions  in  Method   and   Procedure  of  Keeping  Records,  by   R.   F. 
Beasley,  41  pp.     Issued  by  the  State  Board  of  Charities  and  Public  Wel- 
fare.    Raleigh,  1919. 
The  Principle  and  Machinery  of  Social  Construction.     An  address  by   R. 
F.  Beasley  at  the   North  Carolina   Social   Service  Conference,  Raleigh, 
1918.     30  pp. 
Children's  Bureau  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Labor.     Publication  No.  97. 
Proceedings  of  the  Conference  on  Juvenile-Court  Standards.     "  The  or- 
ganization of  county  .juvenile  courts  in  a  rural  State,"  by  Mrs.  Clarence 
A.   Johnson,   State  Commissioner  of  Public  Welfare  of  North  Carolina, 
pp.  75-87.     Washington,  1921. 
National  Conference  of  Social  Work.     Proceedings,  1920.     "  Lessons  from 

North  Carolina,"  by  Wiley  H.  Swift,  pp.  133-135. 
Quarterly  Bulletin  of  the  South  Carolna  State  Board  of  Public  Welfare, 
Columbia.     South    Carolina    Conference    of    Social    Work,    1921.     "The 
promotion  of  public  welfare  in  North  Carolina,"  by  Howard  W.  Odum, 
pp.  18-22, 


REFERENCES.  173 

North  Carolina— Continued. 

Mecklenburg  County.     Annual  Reports  of  the  County  Superintendent  of  Pub- 
lic Welfare  for  the  Fiscal  Years  Ended  June  30, 1920  and  1921.    Charlotte. 

South  Carolina. 

State  Board  of  Public  Welfare  of  South  Carolina,  Second  Annual  Report, 
1921.     "  County  committees,"  pp.  27-29.     Columbia. 

General. 

National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction.     Proceedings,  1915.     "  A 

community  plan  in  children's  work,"  by  C.  C.  Carstens,  pp.  92-106. 
National  Conference  of  Social  Work.     Proceedings,  1917.     "  A  County  unit 
for   social    service,"   by    Sara   A.   Brown,   pp.   645-647. 

Proceedings,    1918. 

"  Boards  of  public  welfare ;  a  system  of  government  social  work,"  by 

L.  A.  Halbert,  pp.  220-229. 
"  The  county  as  a  unit  in  social  work,"  by  Homer  W.  Borst,  pp.  245-249. 
"The  county   as  a   unit  of  charity   administration,"   by.  William   H. 

Davenport,  pp.  249-250. 
"The  county  as  a  unit  in  charity  administration:  Outdoor  relief,"  by 

George  A.  Warfield,  pp.  250-252. 
"  County  organization  of  welfare  agencies,"  by  Bessie  A.  McClenahan, 
pp.  595-604. 
Proceedings,  1921.     "  Relationship  between  State  and  local  govern- 


ments in  the  development  of  public-welfare  service,"  by  William  Hodson, 
pp.  218-222. 
The  Survey.     New  York  City. 

March  22,  1919.     "  The  county  as  a  welfare  unit,"  p.  901. 
July  19,  1919.     "2  by  5  county  relief,"  by  Esther  De  Turbeville,  pp. 
604-605. 
Public  Welfare   (organ  of  the  National  Public  Welfare  League).     Kansas 
City,  Mo. 

May,  1918.    "  State  and  county  boards  of  public  welfare,"  pp.  25-26. 
January,  1920.     "Outline  of  the  provisions  of  a   law  to  establish   a 

county  department  of  public  welfare,"  pp.  539-540. 
March,  1920.    "  Official  endorsements  of  the  county  board  of  public  wel- 
fare idea."  pp.  576-577.  # 
Potter,  Ellen  C,  M.  D.     Community  measures  to  conserve  child  life.    Annals 
of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science.    Child  Welfare. 
Vol.  XCVIII   (November,  1921),  pp.  16-27. 
McClenahan,  B.  A.     Organizing  the  Community;  a  review  of  practical  prin- 
ciples.    The  Century  Co.,  New  York,  1922. 

O 


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